Generic Risk Assessment 5.7 - Incidents involving Explosives examines the hazards, risks and control measures that relate to incidents involving 'commercial' explosives, whilst in manufacture, storage or transportation. It does not cover improvised explosive devices.

Depending on the nature and scale of the operational incident, a variety of significant hazards may be present. Fire and Rescue Services may therefore need to consider the contents of other specific generic risk assessments in this series.

The significant hazards from explosives are essentially the same irrespective of whether they are in manufacture, storage or during transportation.

The term explosive covers a vast range of energetic materials and products, with widely varying properties, dependant upon a large number of parameters. Even though the likelihood of an incident involving explosives is low, the potential consequences can be catastrophic.

It is not only ‘high explosives’ which can have a catastrophic effect therefore it is imperative that fireworks are not considered to be anything other than explosives.