Is your family’s safety a priority? Then you need to read this.

Did you know if your home is built prior to 1989 then it will not meet current Australian safety standards for glass?

What this means is if someone in your family fell through a glass window or door they could be seriously injured. This is because homes built prior to this time used float glass (also known as annealed or monolithic glass). This type of glass breaks into sharp shards which can cut the body deeply. Injuries can also occur from balls, furniture or birds flying into the glass, causing it to shatter, splinter and rain down on anyone within proximity.

Safety glass and how to identify it

Fortunately, the simplest way to prevent an injury is to ensure you have safety glass within your windows and doors. The good news is it is really easy to identify safety glass, as it must be labelled. The label classifies the grade of safety glass (A or B), the type of glass (toughened or laminated) and that conforms to the appropriate building Standards (AS2008/AS1288)

If your glass does not have a label on it, then it is highly likely your home does not have safety glass.  If you are unsure you can also always contact a glazier like Jim’s Glass to come out to your home to conduct an assessment.

What to do if your home doesn’t have safety glass

If your home doesn’t have safety glass you can have it replaced quickly and easily. You can choose to replace all windows and doors or you can replace only those in human impact areas. Human impact areas include doors, low-level windows, floor to ceiling windows, mirrors and mirror wardrobes.

If you choose to do this for the safety of your family and your own peace of mind then you will need to know what your options are.

Types of safety glass

There are two types of Grade A safety glass, toughened and laminated.

Toughened safety glass

Toughened glass offers 4 to 5 times the strength of ordinary glass of the same thickness. It is impact resistant; however, in the unlikely event that the glass does break, it breaks into lots of small blunt fragments, reducing the risk of injury substantially.

Broken toughened glass

Laminated glass

Laminated glass is made from two pieces of glass bonded together with a clear interlayer. In the event of breaking, the glass is held in place in the frame by the interlayer and forms a spider web-like breakage pattern. Laminated glass is the easiest glass to clean up if breakage occurs.

In addition to safety, laminated safety glass also reduces damaging UV rays from fading your interior furnishings. Laminated glass is also a great security option as it takes longer to break through.

Have you checked your glass? Does it meet safety standards? Tell us in the comments below.