The myths of retail glazing

The injuries sustained by four year old Adam Ballard serve as a reminder of the dangers of architectural glass in the retail environment. So badly cut was the toddler that a plastic surgeon had to stitch the gash on his face following a 3 metre mirror falling on him as he shopped with his mum in Marks & Spencers Swansea this February.

In August 2009 a man died in Regent Street, London from lacerations received when he and his girlfriend fell through a large retail window during an argument. In the same year an incident in Bromley South East London resulted in a youth being pushed inadvertently through a retail window when being apprehended by a police officer.

By law retail glazing has to be made using glass that meets the Health & Safety Regulations and that is often achieved through the thickness of the glass. However these incidents illustrate that even using substantial glazing materials does not eliminate the threat of a potentially serious accident.

That heavyweight glass is absolutely safe is one of the safety myths of glazing. Perhaps the most common one is that Georgian wired glass meets health & safety requirements. In fact the reverse is true because the experience has been that when someone’s limb goes through wired glass horrific injuries result as the victim pulls back through and the mixture of glazing and wire tends to bite into the limb.

Toughened glass is another material that is not as infallible as first thought. The theory is that when toughened glass breaks it does so by breaking in into small angular fragments without dangerous edges, typified by the way a car windscreen breaks. To achieve this result glass is subjected to a rapid heating and cooling ‘tempering’ process. However, it has been highlighted recently that in order to avoid distortion of the glass the ‘tempering’ process is not always carried out to the degree that the glass is made safe. The end result is toughened glass installed in the community, which is reassuring kite marked, but that may break dangerously into shards like annealed or float glass.

The problem with this scenario is that there is no way of finding out if installed toughened glass will break safely and additional measures, such as the installation of anti-shatter window film, would be required to help ensure increased safety.

Not only is there this myth surrounding toughened glass but it can be unpredictable too as illustrated by its tendency to spontaneously break – as it did at Heathrow Airport sending a mass of heavy glass pieces down to where people could well have been.

Glazing safety advisers Durable Limited have a great deal of experience of recognising potential risks, helping organisations understand the regulations and on sensible remedial programmes involving the application of anti-shatter window film.

For a comprehensive guide to the health & safety regulations regarding glazing, or to organise an initial inspection, call Durable Limited on 0118 989 5200 or email (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).