Safety is the starting point for everything we do.

The use of pyrotechnics both indoors and outdoors requires special expertise and legally required permits. For this reason, pyrotechnic displays can only be carried out by an industry professional with a Class E licence for handling explosives. All of our staff are fully qualified, whether working on our own productions or via our Local Pyro service.

At every event, the producers of special effects, pyrotechnic or fireworks displays are responsible for the safety of their own operation. That is why we often wish to visit a venue as soon as an order is made. After familiarising ourselves with the event venue, we know that use of pyrotechnics or special effects in the space in question is safe, and we can use this information when applying for the necessary official permits well in advance. If pyrotechnics are being used indoors, a rescue services official will visit the site to inspect the plans prior to the event. That way we can ensure that safety requirements have been met as legally required.

All of our equipment is technologically state-of-the-art and designed to produce special effects, pyrotechnic and fireworks displays, which means that contemporary safety criteria are taken into account as early as the manufacturing stage. Moreover, all of the products we use are CE-certified.

Fireworks

Knowledge of firework products, technical expertise, an understanding of operational responsibility and a feel for visuals are prerequisites for a high-quality display. The products we use are safe and comply with the quality monitoring rules laid out by Finland’s Safety Technology Authority (TUKES). A test shot must be carried out from every batch of fireworks before that batch can be used.

Our staff are competent in detonation and charge loading, and every engineer is acquainted with both the operation and the products alongside the responsible staff member. Understanding of the properties of explosives, protective distances and their safe use are all essential parts of training. In addition, the engineer must understand the prevailing weather conditions as well as the possibility of noise pollution.

We always section off the working area so that no outside parties are able to come into contact with the fireworks, or come too close to the area where fireworks are set off. All engineers are in radio contact with one another, which means that in the event of a disturbance the display can be suspended, or ignition of the first firework postponed.

Applications for firework display permits are submitted well in advance to the police. In addition, the surrounding neighbourhood is usually informed of the event. And once the event is over, we naturally restore the site to its original condition and clean up after ourselves.

Now let’s knock on wood! If an accident should occur, we have liability insurance for up to 1,000,000 euro granted by non-life insurance company If.

Safety

is a negative concept and indicates the absence of danger (risk). Safety thus always appears in relation to some element of risk. As the world becomes increasingly complex and interlinked, safety assumes new features. Absolute safety is (often) impossible, so safety is a relative concept.

A safety-compromising danger often cannot be eliminated altogether, so it’s a question of minimising the threat, and of how much one wishes to invest towards this end. This is especially true of activities involving technology and human beings.

Thus, perfect safety does not exist, and it may not even be wise to strive for it. We need to measure personal or common security according to our resources and priorities, and to understand the resulting level of risk or unsafety. And we need to live with the resulting uncertainty.

Source: Wikipedia (extracts from the Finnish-language entry ”Turvallisuus”)