A massive 65% of children's fireworks don't comply with safety regulations: Inspectorate

The Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) is once again seeing more “children’s fireworks” that do not comply with the safety regulations. During inspections of these F1 fireworks this year, the inspectorate rejected 65 percent of the tested fireworks and had them removed from the market. That is considerably more than in recent years.

In 2022, the ILT rejected 20 percent of children’s fireworks. In 2023, it was 42.5 percent. This year, only 16 percent of all fireworks inspected by the ILT met all its requirements. The rest had minor imperfections.

This year, the ILT focused most of its attention on fountain-type fireworks. It tested 74 different products with names like Barrage, Evo Eruption, Heaven Jewels, and Volcano. In many cases, the products were too light meaning they could fall over in a breeze. The Inspectorate also saw many products whose burning parts, the spark, were over a meter away from the fireworks. This can lead to burns, for example, to the person setting off the fireworks or to bystanders.

Reinder Auwema, chairman of the ILT’s fireworks department, called the results of the investigation “extremely disappointing” and “really a very bad thing.” He believes that the fireworks industry should take responsibility. “It is often a matter of money. If they add an extra layer of clay, the thing will simply stay upright,” he said about fountains that fall over because they are too light.

Auwema pointed out that the Inspectorate has been telling the industry to be safer for several years. “But the industry says that it will then be too expensive. While I do think that they have the knowledge and skills to improve.”

F1 fireworks are also called children’s fireworks, but they don’t come with no danger, Auwema said. “If you do not set them off with precautions, you run the risk of serious burns.” Figures from VeiligheidNL about the past New Year’s Eve confirmed this picture. 15 percent of patients who ended up at the GP emergency post had sustained injuries from F1 fireworks.

The rejected fireworks have been removed from the market by order of the ILT, but may still be in people's homes. This is because F1 fireworks may be sold all year round.

Importers of F1 fireworks have filed an objection to the ILT’s results, the Dutch Pyrothecnics Interest Group (BPN) said. It wants to know why the ILT uses different testing agencies and test methods every year. BPN also said that the ILT still refuses to share video footage of the tests.

The industry association communicates with the Inspectorate as much as possible throughout the year, BPN chairman Leo Groeneveld said. “We have a common interest, namely to bring safe fireworks onto the market. But with such research they seem to want to work against it,” he said. “The inspectorate naturally has the role of inspector, I understand that. But then consistent research must be conducted.”

According to Groeneveld, the ILT created the wrong picture by focusing its attention mainly on fountain-type fireworks. These fountains only make up a relatively small part of the total F1 fireworks, which also includes firecrackers and sparklers. In addition, a fountain is rejected if a spark travels further than one meter, for example at 1.2 meters. “It remains a chemical process,” Groeneveld said. “You don’t want to be standing one meter away, but at least maybe five meters.”

The ILT believes that the fireworks industry must take responsibility, but according to BPN, the fireworks industry already imposes stricter requirements on itself than the regulations prescribe. “We have been working successfully on improving the quality of fireworks for years,’ the chairman said. “Our main concern is not the ornamental fireworks that we bring onto the market but the increasingly dangerous illegal fireworks.”