Boom

Image from Unsplash

Surely no one thought: come on, it’s the last time it’s allowed, let’s do something extra dangerous with fireworks. This blog is not the place for a debate for or against fireworks, but from my perspective there are a few interesting observations to be made. So here we go, blasting our way into the new year once again!

Even though it will not have been intentional, this time it was worse. Let’s start with some figures. There were 1,239 fireworks-related injuries in the Netherlands – no less than 7% more than during the previous New Year’s Eve. More than half of the victims were under the age of twenty. Many children were seriously injured when they tried to relight unexploded fireworks. About half of all victims did not even set off the fireworks themselves; they were merely bystanders. Emergency departments were 29% busier, treating 474 people. GP out-of-hours services were slightly quieter; with 765 patients, they saw 4% fewer cases than last year. One third of the injuries involved eye damage. Fourteen children lost a hand or finger(s), almost all due to illegal fireworks, which accounted for just under half of all injuries. And then there were those two fatalities, too.

All this suffering could, of course, have been easily prevented. All it would have taken is a low risk appetite. That term is very common in my profession, but not so much in daily life. Why is that? Because in a business environment you can usually reason quite rationally about the risks you are prepared to accept, whereas people who set off fireworks do not. They do not think in terms of degrees of risk; caught up in their enthusiasm, they think only about the intended effect. A child certainly does not think: oof, this is a Cobra with a short fuse, what is the likelihood I’ll lose a hand if I light it? Adults do not think in percentages either. At best, they judge it to be too dangerous and refrain from doing it. And if they do light the fireworks, they are implicitly convinced that all will go well. In that way, it is reduced to a binary decision, whereas in reality setting off fireworks still involves a very significant risk.

And what about public information campaigns? In the past, we had a slogan which translates into You’re a fool if you fool around with fireworks. It was witty (even more in Dutch) and it carried a message. Nowadays the message has to be more forceful, and we see mutilated hands on television. But if there are so many young victims, you would also expect information campaigns specifically aimed at this target group. Were there any? Yes, partially. Primary schools could order a free lesson package. That required them to take action themselves, and only about a quarter of all primary schools did so. You might also expect campaigners to use the media where young people actually are, such as TikTok and Instagram. However, there were no specific actions on those platforms. Municipalities and police forces were active there, but honestly — which teenager follows those kinds of accounts?

In my own profession, awareness is difficult as well. After all, you are conveying a message people would rather not hear. Just look at it: fireworks are beautiful and links are there to be clicked. And then along you come, telling them to be careful. Come on, it can’t be that bad, everyone does it.

With cybersecurity, things are slowly moving in the right direction. People understand that they have to be careful; they realise that criminals are lurking, ready to cause digital harm. Hmm, could the difference with fireworks safety have something to do with that? With the presence of a malicious actor? That element is missing when it comes to fireworks. That risk has just two components: the fireworks and the lighting. There is no other party, no enemy. Yes, that almost certainly has to play a role.

From the next New Year’s Eve onwards, a nationwide fireworks ban will apply in the Netherlands. I have serious doubts about whether it will work, because enforcing the ban will be difficult. Border checks in December will not stop the true fanatic, who has already stocked up much earlier. Responding whenever a bang or rocket is detected will rarely work either – how do you determine the exact location? No, if we truly want to reduce the number of victims, we will have to make sure (if necessary via TikTok!) that people – especially children – start to understand that risk management also plays an important role in our daily lives. From that perspective, the message becomes: hands off fireworks — or hands lost because of fireworks.

 

And in the big bad world…

• non-human colleagues need our attention as well.
• HTML-defined QR codes are misleading malware scanners.
• distrust of Chinese AI is growing.
• we are losing our online privacy.
• keeping AI chatbots secure is not easy.
• of course, you can also hack a wheelchair.
• the Dutch NCSC is now also serving SMEs. [DUTCH]