Page:Pyrotechnics the history and art of firework making (1922).djvu/140

 CHAPTER VIII

MODERN FIREWORK MANUFACTURE

Fireworks are now manufactured under the Explosives Act of 1875 and Orders in Council No. 2 and No. 4 under that Act.

Order in Council No. 4 deals with small Firework Factories, the total contents of which, either finished or in course of construction, do not exceed 500 lbs. This class of factory presents little of interest for consideration; and is governed by practically the same rules as are the larger establishments of the kind, with such modifications as are justified by the small quantity of explosive material involved.

Order in Council No. 2 sets out the general rules to be observed in factories licensed under the Act, the leading points of which are as follows:

The absence of iron or steel in any workshop, carriage, or boat; cleanliness and absence of grit; care as to material liable to spontaneous ignition; provision of lightning conductors on magazines; tools and implements to be of soft metal; working clothes without pockets; shoes without nails; searching or means to prevent the introduction of matches or dangerous substances into the works; materials and finished work to be removed from working buildings and not allowed to accumulate when any particular process is completed; no person under sixteen years to be employed or enter any danger building. Every building to be provided with a set of these rules, and a statement of the quantities of explosives and ingredients, and the work to be carried on in it as allowed by the license.

The modern factory is generally situated in a rural district