Explosive public events

When commissioning firework displays, it is not simply a case of the biggest ‘bang for the buck.’ Publicly funded events place an unusual responsibility on event enforcers who need to be assured that the professionally fired shows are truly being fired by professionals who understand the risks that are being created.

Understanding the risks
Firework displays are not risk free – in the same way that any other aspect of a major event is not risk free – the transport used by the public attending the event, for example. What is vital is that the risks are carefully managed and are as low as possible – under the conditions that display will be fired.

The process of managing the risks involves all parties – the event organiser, the event producer, the enforcing authorities and the firework contractor – and requires a sound comprehension of the risks involved. Where the site is flexible, then it may be possible to tailor the firing position (e.g. on barges) to maximise the fallout area (because some of what goes up will, inevitably, come back down) or alternatively the show must be designed to maximise the potential for firing under a variety of ‘most likely’ and ‘worst case’ scenarios.

Careful consideration must also be given to what is achievable under a variety of meteorological conditions – the weather on the night of the display, especially in November or for New Year, is unlikely to be that during the pre-event site visits.

Be realistic
From an event safety point of view, a realistic appreciation of the risks is also vital and the event organisers must be clear what level of risk is expected. At the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2004 we calculated that from all the fireworks fired from the roof of the Melbourne Cricket Ground stadium approximately seven pieces of debris would reach the audience. Careful choice of firework types and rigging methods, however, determined that none of those pieces would cause any significant injury to spectators, performers or athletes. The Victoria government and the event organisers were prepared to accept this level of risk, and in the end there were two minor claims for marking of clothes. If an attitude of ‘zero risk’ had been adopted then it simply would not have been possible to fire any fireworks from the stadium roof. Their view (backed up with sound technical assessment) meant the show could go ahead – and the techniques developed and the lessons learnt have been used at similar scale events around the world since, even when the authorities have not been, perhaps, so enlightened.

Communicating contingency
The largest displays, like that on the Thames for New Year, will also involve the co-operation of the media – and the event planning can and should include a number of alternative display firing schemes so that all those involved can be suitably briefed before the display commences. The number of people travelling to London (74 per cent of the live audience live outside London) to see the New Year display is such that if the event is to be severely curtailed or even cancelled, then they need to know from about noon on New Year’s Eve, and the on-site security staff, marshals, the media and the transport authorities need to react accordingly. In addition there is an estimated TV viewing audience in the UK alone of more than 13 million, and hence broadcasters need to also be fully aware of the contingency planning well before the event takes place.  Add to the equation the estimated £30 million boost to London’s economy as a direct result of the event and it can be seen that not only is it vital to hold such events, but to ensure that the planning processes in place to manage them successfully, be it crowd management, transport infrastructure, and the event contingencies themselves are all in place.

A thought for the environment
It is interesting to note that the environmental impact (in terms of pyrotechnic combustion by-products) for an event such as the London New Year’s Eve displays is about one five-hundreth of that produced by the various transport methods used to get the 500,000+ audience there. Of course there are those nay-sayers who assert that not holding the event would mean all these ‘pollutants’ would be saved from reaching the atmosphere – but national events need to be appropriately celebrated, and the population needs and deserves to be entertained – and the fireworks themselves contribute so little to the overall environmental impact of the event as to be negligible.
   

The British Firework Championships, held annually at Plymouth for the last 15 years, is an example of where this co-operation and event planning work really well. The event, funded by Plymouth City Council, attracts over 200,000 people each year and boosts the local economy by approximately £5 million annually – the cost of the actual fireworks ‘per head’ of the viewing audience is in the order of a few pence! Six displays (three each on two consecutive nights in mid-August) of 10 minutes each showcase new products and the highest level of the firework display designers’ art. But behind the scenes is a complex operation involving extensive event planning and determination of constraints for each competitor, let alone the task of organising the judges.

Seeing the big picture
Our role during the planning phase of major events is probably best described as ‘honest broker’ between the event organisers and the firework display contractors. What an event organiser may want may be impractical to achieve, and what a firework contractor may propose may not be appropriate under the conditions imposed by the event. Our role is to independently assess the two, often opposing, regimes and to formulate objective curtailment and cancellation criteria that all parties can ‘sign up’ to before the event even starts. At smaller events this task is carried out by the event organiser and the contractor themselves but the same basic features should be examined. Questions should include the following:    

What fireworks are suitable for the display under the widest variety of conditions on the site, at the time and date of the display? Does the site offer flexibility to maximise the likelihood that a display can be fired – have such possibilities been identified?
 What cancellation and curtailment criteria are there and how will these be monitored?
 What plans and procedures are in place to modify or even halt the display up to and including the time of firing the display itself?
 If the contractors tendering for an event cannot provide this basic information and agree how to proceed, then perhaps they are not the right company for the job.

Finding the right people for the job
So what do we recommend in the UK that commissioners of displays to look for?  
The British Pyrotechnists Association has been the trade body for the UK’s professional display companies for many years and its members operate to a Code of Practice and uphold the highest standards. BPA membership is currently some 46 of the largest and best established UK companies. The BPA has developed two training courses for professional firers, and its Firework Firer and Senior Firer courses are endorsed by City and Guilds. Over 1,500 people have now successfully achieved one of the qualifications, and have been issued with ID cards backed up by a listing on the website to authenticate them.  
   

The Explosive Industry Group of the CBI (CBI/EIG), although not a Trade Association, has endorsed this course and recommends its own members adopt similar principles. There are currently about 85 firework company members of EIG, ranging from the importers and manufacturers of consumer fireworks and theatrical pyrotechnics to the largest display companies in the UK. The EIG membership also includes manufacturers, importers, transporters, storage companies and users of both civil and military explosives and the expertise from the whole sector is made available widely via a series of industry Guides and Codes of Practice, many of which are relevant to the organisation or professional firework displays.


Members of both organisations will be able to provide a professional service which has a proportionate level of risk management to the scale of the event.

It is simply neither practical or appropriate for the organisers of every display to examine the potential risks and plan contingencies to the same level as something on the scale of the Olympic and Paralympic opening and closing ceremonies – but if that level of management is not possible then the experience and expertise of these companies, developed over many years, will produce stunning spectacles that are as low risk as is possible for the site, the conditions and the budget.

Further information
www.pyro.org.uk