Glass Safety

Does Lamination paper protect glass from shattering during an earthquake, wind storm, or burglary activity?

Glass panels are considered an essential part of building used for dwelling, commercial or public for

multiple reasons since ancient times. In modern buildings, glass has been used for the entire wall to enhance internal as well as external ambiance or beautification. But everything bears some cost or drawbacks in terms of safety and human suffering. For example, glass can be the worst hazard in case of earthquake or storm due to its fragile nature. It can shatter and small pieces can become harmful projectiles and harm people in the surrounding.

To overcome this challenge, we have multiple solutions under the domain of glass safety including;

1. Glass Lamination
2. Safety Glass
3. Glass Glazing
4. Tempered Glass

Laws and regulation support glass safety

There are many regulations and standards which govern glass safety in commercial and residential

facilities. A few of them are outlined as under;

1. International Building Codes
2. NFPA Life Saving code 101
3. British Standards
4. OSHAS standards

According to international building codes, all glass panels that are infested into fixtures and furniture where the size is 2 square feet must be provided glass safety either by utilizing tempered glass or applying glass lamination. NFPA 101 is live saving code that tells us about everything in a facility that can be hazardous to life if safety is not considered. For instance, if glass safety is not done and an earthquake hit the facility the broken pieces can cause harm or injury to the occupants of that facility. In the same way, other standards also give us some very useful information that emphasizes glass safety.

Glass Lamination 

Now, we will discuss the options we have for glass safety as listed above from 1 to 4 including glass

lamination, safety glass, glass glazing, and tempered glass. The best and long-term solution for glass

safety with tempered glass or safety glass with three layers (the mid-layer work as lamination). But both options are costly. It is good for the ones who have no budget constraints and wants the best output for the long term.

We have a second option which is a low-cost solution for glass safety which is glass lamination or glazing or pasting of glass paper on glass. There are several glass papers in the market with different thicknesses or microns but the best glass paper for glass safety is 3M paper which has durability and strength to protect glass from any abrupt hit or collision.

The glass papers come in different designs you can choose according to your desire for building

aesthetics which can benefit in many ways including safety cost saving in terms of glass cost and

beautification and protection from security intrusions sometimes.

Paper glass life span is varied from material to material few materials can sustain for more than 5 years

but few wear out within one year. But we have several techniques which improve the life of glass paper

firstly if we apply the glass paper from inside of the glass and prevent direct exposure to weathering the life of paper lamination increased. The second technique is proper cutting and fixing of lamination paper by the fixer also helps lamination paper to complete its useful life.

Now let's discussed some important specifications regarding glass lamination stated in different standards the specification as described in detail as under.

The lamination on the glass used in the door is 5ft to 1ft from the ground so that the unintentional collision at feet level can damage the glass and lamination can secure it by providing extra strength and stiffness. While the window is between 3ft from the floor which will be considered for accident exposure to the glass panel.

But here it is important to share that any part of glass panel lamination means to laminate the whole glass panel otherwise it becomes meaning less of laminate glass panel patches.

Another, aspect of glass safety is the labeling of safety marking or signages on the glass panels which are very exposed to staff or the public. For example, if a meeting room has glass walls there must be a safety sign of “Glass Wall or Don’t lean” similarly glass doors must be labeled with the “Glass Door” Safety Sign.

Conclusion

It is concluded that glass safety is one of the most important topics when we talk about workplace safety or a safe working environment, especially in facilities where abundant glass is being used for walls, doors, and windows. We can use multiple options to ensure glass safety which range from costly to cheap solutions.