The festival of lights – Deepavali:

It’s that time of year again where fun, food & festivities take over in the family home. The much-awaited festival of light Diwali is here! This festival is all about colours, lights, diyas and crackers, in order to celebrate the victory of happiness, prosperity and goodness.

Although, bursting firecrackers is increasingly becoming unpopular as it creates environmental, noise and air pollution; yet it would be presumptuous to assume that you would not light a fire cracker. Bursting fire crackers is something everyone including children and adults enjoy. So lets take a moment to know how you and your loved ones can celebrate the festival safely, without injury or accidents.

Protech Group advises these simple safety guidelines and precautions to make this Diwali a memorable and special occasion for yourself and your family.

Clothes and Shoes

The primary danger during Diwali festival is from a fire. We strictly advise you to wear close fitting 100% cotton clothes while bursting crackers or lighting other fire items. You must not wear synthetic clothes since they easily catch fire, and get stuck to your skin.

Secondly, we must always wear fully covered shoes while lighting fireworks, or even when you are in the fireworks area watching others light crackers.

Open area for Fireworks

Most often than not, we celebrate Diwali with a large group of close family and friends. So it is important we choose a wide open space outside our homes. We must clean the area free from trash, debris and other flammable material.

It is during this time that we decorate and our houses with candles and diyas. So we must ensure that the candles are away from curtains or other inflammable items at home.

Fire Extinguisher

We should always invest in a fire extinguisher to be kept in the close proximity of the fireworks area. We should keep a bucket of sand or water in a corner to dispose off the spent fireworks. It is better to keep the emergency number of the fire brigade and the nearby hospital in case of any fire emergency. In the case of a simple burn, immediately wash the area with tap water. Seek medical attention if it is a serious burn.

Noise & Air Pollution

The major concerns about Diwali arise from noise and air pollution that hampers our health. People suffering from respiratory illnesses such as asthma, bronchitis are greatly affected by the toxic chemical smoke released by the fireworks. People with respiratory problems should stay indoors and wear protective masks while venturing out. The dust and chemicals from fireworks can irritate the eyes. In case of any burning sensation in the eyes, we must wash the eyes thoroughly with lots of water.

Increasing environmental noise with loud bursting sounds can damage the ear drum and cause hearing impairment. It may cause a hike in blood pressure and may affect the sick and the elderly. Use ear plugs if the noise is too loud, or opt for low noise fireworks like sparklers and flowerpots.

For pet lovers, we must note that pets find it unbearable to tolerate so much bursting noise. They get scared and uncomfortable with bursting sound.

Cracker Safety Tips

If at all we have to buy crackers, we must buy quality crackers. Quality crackers have a lesser risk of mis-firing accidents. We should light one cracker at a time and after lighting it, we shouldn’t become over confident and try to show off by staying close to the lighted cracker.

A very important safety tip is to ensure that children play with crackers under adult supervision. We must instruct our kids about the usage of firecrackers and the proper ways of disposing them. Never should we allow any minor to play with crackers alone.

We should always keep a first aid kit handy with burn creams like Burnol and Silverex. In case of minor burns or injuries, we can get immediate medical attention.

Spread Awareness

The motto is that we should all be aware and be careful. It is important to spread the safety tips amongst all the people around the society. It is even better if we can collectively opt for a cracker free Diwali. Even if we can’t raise a consensus for a cracker free Diwali, we must be sensitive and avoid bursting crackers near hospitals, old age homes and crowded public places. We must always remember that our celebration should not be a reason of discomfort to the others.

Diwali is a festival of happiness and we need to keep it happy for ourselves and our neighbours. Fire crackers are not a plaything and you should not use them on someone just for fun. We should follow these precautions in order to celebrate a peaceful and pleasant Diwali not only this year, but for every year.