DANGER OF DETONATORS (BLASTING-CAPS)
As detonators are in common use in many parts of the Province and as many children have suffered injuries from playing with them, this article, prepared by the Provincial Department of Mines, has been printed in the bulletin. Teachers are directed to see that their pupils are familiar with the appearance and destructive properties of blasting-caps.
There are about 5,000,000 detonators used in British Columbia every year, and while generally great care is exercised in the storage and use of detonators there are still some persons who are careless and negligent in permitting detonators to be where children may find them; this is more likely to occur where prospecting-work, land-clearing operations, or incidental blasting is being done, and usually children who may find detonators under such circumstances are technically trespassing, but this does not relieve the owner of the detonators from the moral responsibility of exposing children to a definite and unnecessary danger.
Approximately 500 children are crippled each year in Canada and the United States by playing with detonators which they have found in the vicinity of blasting operations, past or present, because they are totally unaware of the almost certain explosion that follows the usual attempt to find out what is inside the detonator by picking with a pin, nail, or other sharp instrument.
Some children who are aware of the explosive nature of detonators are still under the impression that they can safely explode them by hitting or crushing the detonator with stones, or other means, but many injuries are suffered each year by children and adults who try this.
The most common injuries from detonators are the loss of some fingers or a hand and the loss of one or both eyes. In many cases the injuries are sufficient to cause death.
Detonators are made in two general sizes known as No. 6 and No. 8, these being respectively about 1¼” and 1¾” long and ¼” in diameter; the detonators at present in use have aluminium shells with the typical aluminium colour and polish; until a few years ago all detonators that were left over from former blasting operations will be of the copper-shell type; these may have been stored or hidden away and forgotten until some child discovers them.
Some detonators are designed for electrical blasting and these are provided with two insulated wires of varying length. The shells may be painted black.
If you find any detonators or see any that are in the possession of, or within reach of, other children, warn such children of the danger and immediately tell your parents, school-teacher, or the police about such detonators, and by so doing you may prevent some of your playmates from losing their fingers and eyes and possibly their lives.
Remember
Detonators will explode if picked with a pin or a nail. Detonators will explode if squeezed, crushed, or receive a light blow or if dropped on a hard surface. Detonators will explode if heated by a spark, match, or any other source of heat. Detonators explode instantly and without warning if treated as above.
