This up-to-date and comprehensive electronic book on CD-ROM covers fireworks and their safety risks, with information from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Centers for Disease Control (CDC), U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), and OSHA. It would be hard to imagine July 4th festivities in the United States without public displays of fireworks, and a number of other holidays, such as New Years, often call for big shows as well. But celebrations can become tragic when someone is injured by consumer fireworks. Despite federal and state regulations on the type of fireworks available for sale to the general public, even those fireworks that are sold legally carry an elevated risk of personal injury. Fireworks are considered hazardous materials with the potential to cause serious injury. All fireworks are regulated by the Federal Hazardous Substance Act, which prohibits sale of the more dangerous types to the public to avoid injury and property damage. Among these banned products are large, reloadable mortar shells, cherry bombs, aerial bombs, M-80s, and large firecrackers with more than 2 grains of powder. Likewise, all mail order kits to construct fireworks are strictly prohibited. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) regulates fireworks that can be sold legally to consumers and is responsible for setting minimum standards, such as requiring firecrackers to have fuses that burn at least 3 seconds but not more than 9 seconds, and that all devices be sealed to prevent leakage of pyrotechnic material. Further, all legal fireworks must have labels with instructions for safe use, as well as warnings and precautions. Although these regulations and standards have helped make consumer fireworks safer, all fireworks are potentially hazardous. For example, sparklers, which are legal in the majority of states, burn at temperatures of approximately 2,000 degrees F. Their colorful sparks belie the potential dangers, and yet sparklers are predominately used by young children. Federal, state, and local laws govern the manufacture and sale of legal fireworks (Class C). As of March 1, 2004, 37 states and the District of Columbia allowed some or all types of consumer fireworks, an increase of five states since January 2001. Meanwhile six states allow only sparklers or other such novelties. Seven states ban all fireworks, including those allowed and regulated by the CPSC. Safety facts include: Injuries from fireworks, most of which occur around the 4th of July, increased from 8,800 in 2002 to 9,300 in 2003. Over the past 13 years, however, the injury rate has fallen 37% from 4.3 to 3.2 injuries per 100,000 population. State laws regulating the sale of fireworks directly affect the occurrence of fireworks related injuries. Children under the age of 15 suffered 45% of all injuries from fireworks. Most injuries (72%) are to males of all ages. Firecrackers were responsible for the greatest number of injuries (1,600) in 2003, followed by bottle rockets (1,000) and sparklers (700). Because most fires ignited by fireworks are to outside property, the dollar loss to these fires is substantially less than the dollar loss to structure fires. This CD-ROM uses next-generation search technology that allows complete indexing and makes all files on the disc fully searchable.
