Deadly enterprises

 (The Philippine Star) Updated November 28, 2010

Over a month before the New Year’s Eve revelry, a woman has died and at least eight people wounded in explosions in firecracker factories.

On Monday night last week an explosion in a firecracker warehouse killed a 54-year-old woman in Angat, in the firecracker manufacturing province of Bulacan. Two days later, another explosion destroyed a firecracker warehouse in Barangay Sto. Niño in the town of Baliuag, also in Bulacan. The warehouse was in the middle of a rice field and no one was hurt.

Unlike many mom-and-pop operations in the province, the warehouse in Baliuag was owned by a licensed fireworks manufacturer. These businesses are supposed to be regulated and must comply with safety standards in handling explosive materials. Yet year after year fatal accidents hit the fireworks industry, from makeshift backyard operations to large manufacturing plants.

Apart from safety standards in manufacturing and storing explosive materials being ignored, workers in the industry continue to be exposed to health hazards. This is the case particularly in makeshift operations, where even children are employed part-time during periods of peak demand. Their images are featured in the news every year: workers, their faces and half-naked bodies covered almost completely with toxic materials used for manufacturing firecrackers and pyrotechnics.

The poorly regulated industry also continues to churn out products with little regard for quality control. This would have gone on indefinitely, but in recent years the industry has started feeling the pressure of competition from imported fireworks, which have gained popularity among consumers. Many of the imported products are safer and easier to handle and provide more awesome pyrotechnic displays - in short, better value for money.

Several local manufacturers have started heeding the admonition to reform or perish, and are at the forefront of improving quality control and compliance with safety regulations in the industry. The two recent accidents in Bulacan should prompt the industry to intensify its efforts.