Glass Safety

Safety around Glass in the Home

Every single home will no doubt have an abundance of glass and glass windows spread in every room and it's important to note that these glass windows and in some cases doors can provide a great risk to your child's safety. It is very easy for a child to wander in the wrong room and assume it's a doorway without knowing it's a glass door and seriously injure them. They can also easily trip over items if they are climbing up high and fall through a window, causing them great pain and potentially even death. You should follow some simple advice we will tell you now in order to correctly train your kids about glass safety.
 
Facts & Issues around glass
Every year around 220 children under 4 are taken to hospital for injuries related to glass. A lot of the time these injuries are to the face and head as they fall through the glass and this where the most serious injuries may occur. Other items that can cause this are cabinets and coffee tables where glass is present. Injuries can also occur from shards of glass found on the carpet after dropping and breaking something made out of glass and not having it properly cleaned up. The fact remains also that there was no standards in place prior to 1989 when it came to glass installation in homes, so if your house is older than that you may need to look around at the glass in your house and potentially get new glass installed that meets Australian standards. The main difference in the glass from today and prior to 1989 comes from the introduction of glass glazing as well as protective covers over modern glass. This safety glass in today's homes are generally extremely well designed and will not cause as serious injuries compared to glass found in homes prior to 1989.
 
Shower Screens
The same facts can be given to shower screens and shower doors. All modern doors and screens have to comply with Australian safety standards so it's always a good idea to check if this is the case. You can have toughened glass installed also as your child may simply have a bump on the head if they whack into this glass.
 
How do I know what glass I have in my home?
You can easily check stickers on your glass to see what they say or if you can't find stickers or are still unsure you should contact your local glass fitter to come inspect the glass you have in your windows and other glassed areas before it's too late.
 
Reducing the risk of glass injuries
You can follow some nice and easy steps in order to help prevent glass injuries:

• Always prevent your children from having contact with glass if possible. Don't let them play roughly around glass items that may break such as glass cabinets or coffee tables and always supervise them if they are near glass doors or windows
• Make sure you know where there is glass in your home so you can teach your children to stay away from the more dangerous areas
• Ensure you know what type of glass you have in areas as well so you know which glass is safety glass and which glass needs to be treated extra carefully
• Place safety film on all glass to ensure it is extra strong and gives it added durability to prevent accidents from occurring. You can find safety film at most hardware stores or of course from your local glass retailer
• Play and eat away from glassed areas and use furniture that will not fall onto glass and cause injuries
• Make glass easily visible and place stickers on certain areas so that your child knows there is glass there and won't run directly through it
• Make glassed areas well lit, especially at night time when visibility is obviously reduced
• If you don't need to use clear, transparent glass, use patterned or glazed glass instead
• Always treat glass with respect and teach your children to do so also
• If you have glass shelving you should not place objects on it that are too heavy and will cause the glass to break. Ensure that all the corners of the shelving are not pointed and sharp and watch your children closely around these areas

 
The best option is to always consult your local glass dealer for all the latest advice when it comes to glass safety. You can of course book them to come over to inspect all glass in your house to make sure it is safe and meets standards in Australia so that you can be rest assured your children will be safe around glass in your home.