As a Maltese living abroad I often recommend Malta to other expatriate colleagues and must admit that one of the highlights of a tourist’s visit to Malta is a village feast with its fireworks display.
The latest tragedy in Mosta has yet again drawn a myriad of comments, some by people voicing sympathy for the loss of loved ones and others criticising the practice or, worse still, calling for it to be banned. One commentator summed it succinctly: “First we admire their work … then when someone dies we point fingers at them ... This is not fair.”
Fireworks are a part of our heritage. Some may remember the Maltese displays on EU accession day and also on the start of the millennium. Therefore, realistically, they will not (and should not) be banned.
What needs to be done is to have proper control. Control has to be exercised on all facets of the sector and be draconian in nature until all concerned toe the line:
1) Siting firework factories away from urban areas: This is something that is being done. However, to what extent is urbanisation now encroaching onto firework factory areas?
2) All factories should have a physical security perimeter and strict entry/recording procedures in place.
3) All factories must be built for purpose, that is, with explosion relief features (BS 1539), effective fire-stopping compartmentalisation etc of different processes and storage.
4) Handling and storage of flammable and explosive material should be as per international (BS 7114 or ISO) standards.
5) Inception hazards and their location should be clearly identified and a “fault-tree” study per inception hazard with quantifiable data were possible should be conducted to assess critical areas. This should be complemented by hazard and operability studies of each process for each step of the process.
6) The above should be certified as compliant at least twice annually. The certification should be handled by the Civil Defence Department, be independent of the firework factories and the service should be paid for by the factory owners.
7) In addition to the above, adherence to safety procedures should be audited externally at least annually because most of the catastrophic physical losses generally have their root in a procedural blip.
8) Training of staff: The mentality of dilettanti (amateurs) has to change. There is nothing wrong with being a dilettant but one has to be a trained and certified dilettant to enter firework factory zones and/or in anyway handle fireworks.
It is imperative that a project team is set up with the active participation of Civil Defence (firefighting), the police, representation from the pyrotechnics association/s, a representative from the Malta Insurance Association and a qualified project manager with relative risk management experience.
The project team should have a clear and measurable set of targets within an absolute timeframe to freeze all licences and re-issue temporary ones with a six-month validity and with in-built qualification provisos vis-à-vis the above and other appropriate safety requirements.
The above would be aimed at eliminating or, at best, reducing the probability or severity of a risk occurrence. However, a final step in the process would be to have a risk-transfer mechanism since the whole industry is handling chemicals that are relatively expensive and also could lead to loss of life. In the event of loss, innocent third parties can also be victims of loss. Therefore, on a collective basis, premises, property, people involved in the industry as well as third parties should be insured under a compulsory, collective scheme.
Insurers shy away from pyrotechnics and with good reason. However, if the above physical and procedural risk management initiatives are implemented to international standards and the insurance is mandated collectively on a comprehensive basis, the insurance industry would not only be oblige to provide cover but would be presented with a more palatable risk.
Is the above draconian? Maybe but only because experience dictates that the current state of affairs is atrocious. Achievable? Definitely, with a heavy hand from the government and goodwill by all involved. Expensive? Try the loss of a loved one!
We cannot and should not do away with something that is part of our culture’s fabric. But it should be regulated. It isn’t… not properly, anyway.
Views expressed are personal.
A chartered insurance practitioner, fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute and of the Institute of Risk Management, the author has been active in insurance in Europe and the Middle East for the past 20 years.