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What is Safety Glass
In general, safety glass is any type of glass that has been engineered to be less brittle to reduce the chances of causing physical injury when broken.
Safety glass is used in many items, including windshields for cars and planes, mirrors, shower screens, doors and windows.
There are two main types of safety glass: tempered glass and laminated glass. Wired glass or wire mesh glass is also considered to be safety glass.
Table of Contents
Tempered Glass
Tempered glass also known as toughened glass is a type of safety glass that has been heat-treated for strength. When tempered glass breaks, it does not shatter into sharp pieces. Instead, it breaks into many small pieces with dull flat surfaces which reduce the risk of injury from broken glass. It is often used as a replacement for regular glass windows and doors due to its durability and low fire hazard properties.
Laminated Glass
Laminated glass is a type of safety glass that is made up of two or more sheets of glass with a plastic interlayer sandwiched in between. If the glass breaks, the plastic interlayer will hold the pieces together, preventing them from falling out and causing injury. Laminated glass is used in many applications where safety is a priority, such as car windshields and burglar proof windows
Wired Glass
Wired glass, also known as wire mesh glass, is a type of safety glass that is made up of small pieces of wire mesh sandwiched between two sheets of glass. When wired glass breaks, the small pieces of wire mesh will hold the larger pieces of glass together, preventing them from falling out and causing injury. It was commonly used as a fire safety glass prior to the 1970’s but these days it’s use has been mostly replaced by laminated and toughened glass which is considered better alternatives when it comes to safety
When is Safety Glass Required?
In Australia, safety glass is regulated by the Australian Standard for Safety Glazing – AS1288-2006. According to AS 1288-2006, safety glass is required in the following situations:
- All glass doors
- All bathroom areas under 2m in height
- Glass panels which can be mistaken for openings (eg. floor to ceiling glass partitions)
- Glass balustrades (for a distance of 1000mm from either side of the stairs and 2000mm from the bottom of the stairs)
- All low level glass under 1.2m
Author
Elias Chahine
Elias Chahine is the director of Gusto Emergency Glass Replacement and has many years in the glass repair and construction industry