Cracker Safety 2026: The Do's and Don'ts That Actually Prevent Injuries

The do's

• Buy from a licensed dealer. Properly manufactured crackers behave predictably. Loose, unlabelled or unbranded stock is the single biggest avoidable risk. Ours are sold under licence LC-5-261/2024.
• Read the pack. Every item carries placement and lighting instructions. A flower pot, a shot box and a rocket each need a different setup.
• Use crackers outdoors only. Never indoors, never in a stairwell, never on a covered balcony.
• Keep two buckets of water or sand ready. Before you light the first item, not after something goes wrong.
• Light at arm's length with a long match or agarbatti. A lighter forces your hand within centimetres of the fuse.
• One at a time. Place, light, step back. Then the next one.
• Wear cotton and covered shoes. Tie long hair back.
• Keep a clear radius. Spectators stand well back, upwind, and never in the direction the item is pointed.
• Soak the debris. Spent crackers go into water before they go into a bin.

The don'ts

• Never make your own fireworks or combine, open or modify a cracker. Every year this causes injuries that no first aid can undo.
• Never hold a cracker in your hand while lighting it — sparklers are the only hand-held exception, and only at arm's length.
• Never light a cracker inside a bottle, tin, pipe or any container. A container turns a firework into a projectile.
• Never lean over a cracker while lighting it or afterwards. Your face is the part you cannot replace.
• Never re-light a failed cracker. See the protocol below.
• Never carry crackers in a pocket. Friction and body heat are enough.
• Never light near vehicles, gas cylinders, dry leaves, thatch, curtains or overhead cables.
• Never let children light anything unsupervised, however small the item.
• Never point any item at a person, animal, window or building, even in play.
• Never burst crackers while wearing synthetic or loose flowing clothes.

The failed-cracker protocol

1. Stop. Do not walk towards it.
2. Wait 15 to 20 minutes. Keep everyone, especially children, well away from it during that time.
3. Approach from the side, never from above, and never with your face over it.
4. Soak it completely in a bucket of water. Leave it submerged.
5. Dispose of it wet. Do not put a dry failed cracker in a bin.

The same rule applies to a shot box that fires partially and then stops. Assume the remaining tubes are still live.

First aid: burns and eye injuries

For a burn

1. Move the person away from the source and stop the burning — if clothing is alight, smother it with a blanket or roll the person on the ground.
2. Cool the burn under clean running water for 15 to 20 minutes. This is the single most useful thing you can do, and it works best in the first few minutes.
3. Remove rings, bangles and watches near the burn before swelling starts, but do not pull off clothing that is stuck to the skin.
4. Cover loosely with a clean, non-fluffy cloth or cling film.
5. Seek medical care for any burn larger than the person's palm, any blistering or deep burn, any burn to the face, hands, feet or joints, and any burn in a child.

For an eye injury

1. Do not rub the eye and do not let the injured person rub it.
2. If a chemical or spark residue is in the eye, rinse gently with clean water for several minutes.
3. If something is embedded, do not attempt to remove it. Cover the eye loosely without pressing.
4. Go to a hospital immediately. Eye injuries from fireworks are time-critical; do not wait to see whether it improves.

Rules for children

Children are involved in a disproportionate share of Diwali injuries, usually in avoidable ways. Four rules cover most of it:

• An adult within arm's reach for every child holding anything lit. Not watching from a chair — within reach.
• Age-matched items only. Sparklers, small flower pots, ground chakkars and the children's fountain range. Nothing aerial, nothing loud, no rockets.
• Cotton clothing, covered shoes, hair tied back. No dupattas, no flowing sleeves, no synthetic party wear.
• Store the stock out of sight. Give out a few items at a time; do not leave an open box accessible.

Our guide to the types of crackers in 2026 sets out which categories suit children and which do not.

Storing crackers at home

Neighbours, elders and animals

Safety is not only about the person holding the match. High-decibel items distress infants, elderly people, those recovering from illness, and animals, whose hearing is far more sensitive than ours.

• Respect the permitted bursting hours notified for your city. These vary by state and are enforced.
• Avoid high-decibel items near hospitals, schools, places of worship and old-age homes.
• Bring pets indoors well before dusk, close windows, and leave a familiar background sound on.
• Never throw a cracker towards a street animal. It is cruel and it is an offence.
• Sweep the street after your display — smouldering debris is a hazard for barefoot children and animals.

If a lower-noise celebration is what you want, our green crackers guide for 2026 explains what is genuinely available and how to identify it.

Frequently asked questions