Fireworks are a great passion for many Maltese and there are about 39 fireworks factories around Malta and Gozo.
Band clubs pride themselves on providing a colourful display of fireworks at their village feast and many compete against each other on the best techniques.
According to sources, the chemicals used in mixing fireworks - potassium chlorate and potassium nitrate - are stored at a central place under the supervision of the Armed Forces of Malta. The material is then distributed according to a pre-set quota to each fireworks factory. Each factory can take up to 400 kg a month of the two substances.
There are many rules and regulations to ensure this dangerous pastime is practised in safe surroundings. A number of questions were put to the Malta-EU Information Centre on the issue.
Did regulations concerning the issue of licences change when Malta joined the EU?
No. The government continued to issue licences according to national regulations. The EU does not get into this.
What about the system of licensing fireworks factories. Did the EU change it?
No. Again, licences continued to be issued in accordance with Maltese laws and the EU has nothing to do with this. New factories and any extensions to existing ones are subject to approval by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.
Are there any health and safety regulations governing fireworks factories?
Yes. Malta has in force various health and safety regulations regarding fireworks factories. In accordance with these regulations, factories must consist of a cluster of small individual buildings separated from each other. Although we still hear about explosions in fireworks factories, it can be said that the new layout has reduced the number of victims considerably. But accidents still happen, claiming lives or causing severe injuries.
What about access to the premises of fireworks factories? Is this regulated?
Maltese law states that no person shall enter into any fireworks factory to handle fireworks unless he carries with him the licence, which he shall produce to an authorised inspector on demand. The licensee of a licensed fireworks factory, or in his absence any other person holding a licence, shall be responsible for ensuring that any restrictions or conditions are complied with. The law also states that each factory must have signs put up as a warning to passers-by at distances determined by the Commissioner of Police. The signs shall contain the following words in both Maltese and English: "DANGER. Fireworks factory. It is dangerous to go beyond this point".
What about public safety?
Maltese law takes into account public safety by providing rules on the distances from roads and inhabited areas that need to be respected according to the type of fireworks being let off.
Are fireworks displays popular in other European countries?
Very much so. Various countries in the EU manufacture and let off fireworks just like in Malta. The French, Italians and the British are renowned for their displays. But the Maltese would like to think that they are difficult to beat. And they are probably right.
We often hear about explosions in fireworks factories in Malta. Were there any accidents in the EU?
Yes. The most recent major accident in the EU occurred in May 2000 when a series of explosions at the company Fireworks SE in the city of Enschede in The Netherlands caused the death of 22 persons with another 1,000 people injured. The factory stored and assembled fireworks. The incident caused extensive damage over a large area surrounding the factory, including a residential area as well as the Grolsch brewery (containing a large ammonia refrigeration system). The severity of this accident underlined the hazards associated with processing and storage of explosives and pyrotechnics.
What happened after this accident?
The EU has long had a law on the prevention of major accidents. But the Enschede incident increased awareness of these hazards. This led to new legislative proposals at EU level to include pyrotechnics in an EU law on the prevention of major accidents, known as the Seveso Directive.
What is the Seveso Directive?
Seveso was the name of a place in northern Italy where in 1976 an accident happened at a chemical plant manufacturing pesticides and herbicides. This accident and others before it led the EU to come out with the Seveso Directive that introduced requirements relating to safety management systems, emergency planning, land-use planning and a reinforcement of inspections to be carried out by member states.
Are firework factories in Malta affected by the Seveso Directive?
Today, the Seveso Directive applies only to those factories which store a very large amount (more than 50 tonnes) of fireworks. As a result, the quantities involved are too large for this law to apply to firework factories in Malta.
But isn't the European Commission proposing to extend this Seveso Directive?
Yes. Following the accident in The Netherlands mentioned above, the matter was considered by experts from EU countries. The general view was to introduce the UN/ADR classification system into the Seveso II Directive. This distinguishes between explosives on the basis of the hazard they represent - which may range from a mass explosion hazard to a fire hazard. It would therefore enable a significant improvement in the representation of the hazards of different types of explosives, particularly fireworks. As a result, the European Commission proposed to revise the definitions used in the current law to reflect the hazards of different types of explosives. It would also make the law applicable to smaller quantities of stocks of fireworks. The Commission proposed a threshold of five tonnes, down from the previous 50 tonnes. There is no decision yet on this new threshold.
If the Commission proposal becomes law, will Maltese fireworks factories be affected?
It would depend on the quantities of fireworks that they stock. If the Commission proposal passes as it is with the five tonnes threshold, Maltese fireworks factories that stock more than five tonnes of fireworks would be affected and tougher security standards would apply. But it appears that hardly any of the local fireworks factories do in fact store more than this quantity at any point in time.
This decade's fireworks factories' explosions
Data collected by The Times shows a trail of death and destruction after a series of explosions at fireworks factories between 1995 and 2005.
January 1995 - Explosion of fireworks factory in Lija. One man seriously injured.
February 1995 - Charles Vella, 51, dies after fireworks factory explosion in Wied il-Kbir, limits of Zebbug.
September 1996 - Factory explosion in Hal-Farrug, Qormi. Two hospitalised.
April 1997 - Karmenu Gauci, 51, dies following an explosion in Iklin.
June 1997 - Police investigate explosion in Ghaxaq.
October 1997 - Nicolas Cassar, 46, dies after fireworks factory explosion at Mqabba.
October 1997 - Michael Azzopardi, 52, and Joseph Grima 29, die in explosion at a Munxar factory.
March 1998 - No one hurt in 12th May factory explosion in Siggiewi.
July 1998 - Five injured in explosion in Wied Qirda factory.
September 1999 - Two men escape unhurt after Hal-Farrug factory goes up in flames.
January 2000 - Room used to store and make fireworks, limits of Gharghur, explodes.
January 2000 - Adrian Agius, 45, goes missing after a factory explosion in Kercem. His remains are found a day later.
March 2000 - Facciol Baldassare, 70, sustains severe burns after explosion at St Sebastian fireworks factory. He dies days later.
March 2000 - Explosion at Xwieki. No one injured as some men at the time were having a coffee break.
February 2001 - No one injured in explosion at San Bert fireworks factory in Gharghur.
January 2002 - Explosion of fireworks room near Siggiewi.
January 2002 - Explosion at St Leonard's fireworks factory, limits of Gudja.
March 2002 - Four men injured after explosion of Mqabba factory.
April 2002 - Gaetano Cutajar, 39, of Qormi, dies after handling fireworks materials, while working on fireworks production at St Gabriel fireworks factory in Iklin.
July 2002 - Explosion in factory at Wied Dalam leaves a 23-year-old man on danger list.
July 2002 - No one injured in 12th May factory explosion.
December 2002 - Explosion at fireworks factory in Zurrieq.
January 2003 - A fireworks enthusiast seriously but not critically injured after an explosion at a room in Qormi used for the production of fireworks.
April 2003 - Godwin Debono, 50, of Birkirkara, dies in a huge explosion at a fireworks factory in Ta' Kandja, limits of Mqabba.
July 2003 - Explosion at fireworks factory, limits of Gudja.
June 2004 - A barrel of gunpowder exploded at a Kercem fireworks factory, damaging a room. No one was hurt.
November 2004 - Explosion at fireworks factory in Kirkop.
July 2005 - Two dead, five injured, two critically, after massive explosion in Wied Qirda.