Inconsistencies in safety glass standards for use in buildings

Interest in the desirable properties of safety glass has resulted in their extensive applications in buildings worldwide. In recent years attention has focused on these specially manufactured glazing materials on account of the observation of human impact related accidents and consequent serious injuries including deaths. Safety glass as a glazing material is selected specifically to minimise the risk of human injury as a consequence of failure or fracture of the glass. Toughened and laminated are the two most commonly used safety glasses in the world and have their distinctive failure characteristics. In this paper standards related to safety glass usage in many parts of the world are reviewed in terms of the failure characteristics of these specially manufactured construction materials. The existing inconsistencies are highlighted with a view to the development of a set of universally acceptable standards