In the past five years, a total of 63 people have suffered eye injuries after using fireworks on New Year’s Eve. It shows figures from Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency (DSB).
Someone who has experienced how wrong things can go when launching rockets is Jan Olav Halvorsen (26) from Arendal.
On New Year’s Eve in 2019, he got a rocket right in the eye.
Lost sight
When Halvorsen was about to light the battery, it suddenly exploded before he could light it properly.
SENT TO HOSPITAL: Jan Olav Halvorsens had to spend part of New Year’s Eve 2019 in the emergency room in Arendal, before he was then sent by taxi to Ullevaal hospital for surgery. Photo: Private
– I got the firework right in the eye, he says and says that he doesn’t quite know what happened that night when he was quickly bruised.
Those around him caught wind of what was happening, and good neighbors took Halvorsen straight to the emergency room. He was then sent by taxi to Ullevaal hospital.
The next day he was put under anesthesia and operated on.
Regular medical check-up
For Halvorsen, the accident caused him to lose sight completely in one eye.
FOR BIG AND SMALL: Illustration of safety glasses for children and adults when handling fireworks. Photo: Annika Byrde / NTB
– At the start it was unusual, and I was in a lot of pain. But it’s going well now, he says four years after the accident.
He says that you get used to having only one working eye and that he is full time.
Nevertheless, he still has to go to the doctor once in a while.
Every morning and evening, he also has to drip eye drops into his eye to calm down a persistent inflammation in the eye.
Drops glasses
In a recent survey carried out by Respons Analyse, on behalf of the non-life insurance company Fremtind, it appears that one in four Norwegians do not use safety glasses when launching rockets.
DSB writes that almost none of the 63 injured people were wearing protective glasses at the time they were injured.
Neither had Halvorsen when the fatal incident happened back in 2019.
– Why didn’t you wear protective glasses?
– You can say that. It was stupid, he says.
On New Year’s Eve this year, Halvorsen will stand outside and look at the rockets, but he has no plans to fire one himself.
– I have not launched a rocket since the accident. It’s probably the smartest thing to do, he says.
Good families with children
Svea fireworks, the largest supplier of fireworks in this country, gives out one free pair of protective glasses to customers who shop with them.
BRILLEFIN: – If you put on your glasses, you’ve come a long way, says Anders Sture in Svea fireworks. Photo: Berit Roald
The general manager of Svea, Anders Sture, says that they started importing protective glasses in 2006.
Since then, they have imported 8.3 million goggles.
– Those who shop with us get a pair of goggles, and most people put them on when they shoot. If you put on your glasses, you’ve come a long way, he says.
He particularly notices that families with children, who are a large customer group at Svea, are good at buying glasses for their children.
– Most are good and fire up in the right way. There are not many people who abuse fireworks, he says and adds:
BEWARE: Rikard Spets, spokesperson for the Norwegian Fireworks Association, believes that the use of protective glasses must become mandatory when using fireworks. Photo: Sven-Erling Brusletto/TV 2 helps you
– At the same time, one eye injury is one injury too many. We should not neglect or trivialize this, but with the safety fountain, protective glasses and lighter, the launch should go well, says Sture.
A safety fountain works so that people get a warning flash when the battery is ignited. This also extends the time from when the fuse is lit until the effects are shot into the air.
The purpose is to give warning so that people can keep their distance before the fireworks start.
Want an order
The Norwegian Fireworks Association has three concrete things on the block that they are fighting for, in the hope of ensuring a safer New Year’s celebration:
- An order for the use of protective glasses
- That all fireworks must be equipped with a safety fountain
- Significantly stricter reactions to unreasonable behaviour.
– In particular, we want a tougher crackdown on launching outside the legal launch time and “badass behaviour”, says Rikard Spets, spokesperson for the Norwegian Fireworks Association.
Thoroughly tested
In Norway, stick rockets were banned in 2008, which meant that the number of serious eye injuries was reduced.
In Finland, in 2010 they introduced an order for the use of protective glasses when using fireworks. Studies show that this measure e.gled to a significant decrease in the number of eye injuries.
– We think that a requirement for protective glasses, on top of the stick rocket ban that we have, will have an effect and lead to less damage.
Spets also adds that the fireworks sold by serious players in Norway are “safe and good”.
– The products have been thoroughly tested many times by approved inspection bodies.
