One of the first health and safety lessons we learn as children is to be careful of broken glass and not to handle it unless you have taken every safety precaution. That’s because although incredibly useful in the home, glass can be very dangerous when it breaks. Even modern safety and toughened glass, which is designed to be very difficult to break and to shatter into small shards, can present challenges. Luckily, most of us have to deal with broken glass very rarely, and generally only in small amounts.
For those in the glazing industry, glass presents a much bigger challenge. When manufacturing, moving, installing or repairing large panes of glass – whether that’s single, double, toughened or reinforced – there are certain health and safety protocols that need to be followed at all times. That’s not just to align with common sense and in-house training procedures but also to comply with legislation around the safe use and handling of glass. So, just what is it that glaziers need to know when working with glass and which window safety regulations apply to installing and repairing glass windows?
Minimise Risk
Safety Measures
When glass is broken it becomes much more dangerous and unpredictable, which is why there are a number of key ways glazing specialists use safety measures to reduce risk when breakages happen. This includes the use of safety film to reinforce windows until they are able to be fully replaced. This is because if a repair is not immediately possible, a broken window poses a safety risk but may also still be performing a security function in the building. A safety film on your windows allows broken glass to be held together, reducing the risk of fragments being released when removed.
Regulation and Compliance
Prevention
