At The Sharp End of Glass Safety & Security

How many people would ever look at the nearest large pane of glass whilst sitting at their desk and wonder whether it were safe? Some might, but evidence suggests that nobody gives it a second thought. Particularly in the workplace. When posing this question in workshops and presentations, the common reply is “Of course it must be OK. If it weren’t, they wouldn’t allow it, would they?”

You would be right to think that. Alas, theory and practice are actually worlds apart.

The tools necessary for design, construction, management and control have been in place for decades. Glass alone must rank amongst the most regulated building elements. In fact, we are up to our eyes in glass-related rules, yet their enforcement is more or less imposed in the wake of an incident occurring.

It would be prudent were safety to begin at the drawing board stage, before the first person came to work at the premises, rather than later on the operating table.

Glass and its potential to inflict injury

Massive modern use of glass for building has been made possible by the development of float glass and the flat bed toughening process. Used in tandem and with a range of other later improvements, toughened glass will offer a cheaper and lighter construction product than any traditional building method.

All glass is dangerous, as manufacturers admit, whether from physical impact or from blast. It can fail spontaneously, granulate or release masses of lethal fragments.

Health & Safety Executive (HSE)

The United Kingdom (UK) enforcement agency owns most of the regulatory tools which relate to glass, as well as general mandatory safety law across industry and commerce. It operates Building Regulations for England & Wales – glass and glazing falls within Approved Document K:2013. HSE will come under examination following the Grenfell Tower fire and now its role might suit the modern world.

Building Control

The function of building control is undertaken either by local authorities or by licensed inspectors. The stated aim is to ensure on behalf of a final user or resident of premises, in terms of Building Regulations, that a reasonable level of safety has been achieved. Where glass is concerned, an inspector has a difficult task if there are large numbers of units to be inspected and, without thickness measuring gauges, there is no real chance of checking that the right glass is in the right place.

The following official statement confirms the limits of building inspection – it is not a criticism of personnel, but of a flawed system which they are attempting to implement to the very best of their abilities.

“Building Control Performance Standards 2017

Although the building control process in itself does not guarantee 100% compliant buildings the test of effective building control is its success in helping to achieve reasonable standards of health, safety, energy efficiency, accessibility and sustainability for building users. Building control does not remove the obligation of the person carrying out the work to achieve compliance with the Building Regulations, so the construction industry has an enormous part to play.”

If only a tiny proportion of the fitted glass can be checked, an inspector should demand to see the DoP documentation accompanying every pane and unit to be installed.

Contract Tendering

Once a UK project goes to tender, the cheapest price syndrome can lead to corners being cut. The issue with sourcing glass is made worse by removal of naming specified material. A can of worms has been opened, one which drives down quality in the hunt to extract profit from a seriously low quote.

Sourcing of glass

All flat glass is not the same. Official UK 2016 figures confirm £150 million of flat glass imported from outside the European Union (EU), a figure excluding huge free circulation from trans-shipping via EU ports of entry. Some of this glass must be acceptable, but much may be well below standard and is being dumped into our construction industry.

Such glass can also purport to comply with UK regulation. A phone call from a Far Eastern glass manufacturer. ”We make cheap toughened glass. Want to buy some?” We asked….“Do you carry out impact tests to BS EN12600:2002?” They replied…..“No, but we will write on your glass anything you want.”

So much for 35 years of stringent UK glass regulation!

By EU law, a manufacturer, processor, supplier or fitter of flat glass must supply a Declaration of Performance (DoP) certificate to all clients down the supply chain, even for a single pane or unit. This backup is part of CE legislation and any customer can and should insist upon a DoP, even for routine replacement of broken glass. It will provide evidence of good practice in the event of later injury.

Approved Document K of Building Regulations 2013

The basic UK safe glass control for impact, falling, safe cleaning and safe opening. AD K refers to British Standards to deliver good practice, much of which is mandatory.

BS6262 : Part 4 : 2005 – Glass in buildings: safety related to human impact

Cited by an Appeal Court judgement as the bible of good practice within the UK glass & glazing industry, it sets safe glass requirements for all those using glass in building.

In a rare move, BS6262 was made mandatory by the Consumer Protection Act 1987 & General Products Safety Regulations 2005, UK enactments of European legislation. Contrary to popular belief, “mandatory” means required by law or mandate; ie compulsory.

Safety marking of glass

Each pane and unit fitted in so-called “critical areas” must show a permanent and fully visible mark. The mark will confirm the supplier, the impact test and the pass level achieved. The lack of fully visible marking will have serious consequences. Designers and suppliers need allow for glazing bars and edge gaskets obscuring the mark.

Manifestation of glass

Glass with which persons might collide by failing to notice its presence must have decoration across its surface. Exact means are laid out in BS 6262 part 4 2005 & ADK, and must be visible from both sides and under all lighting conditions. In the event of an accident, HSE will assess the level of manifestation provided. The means to achieve legal compliance are clear, yet designers often prefer their own designs which fail to comply.

Containment

Where glass is used to protect a drop in height over stairs, walkways or is used as full height perimeter glazing in any building, it must be capable of stopping a person or object falling through. The vital need for glass containment is explained within BS6180:2011: barriers in and about buildings

Retainment of glass

Glass can be heavy, according to size and gauge of pane or unit. In certain areas ie within or overlooking leisure facilities or in shower rooms, the glass must hold once broken. This will exclude using even toughened glass, unless further reinforced. Broken glass must be retained in areas where foodstuffs are stored, cooked or served.

This part of glass specifying is regularly missed. A risk assessment MUST be carried out after design proposals have been finalised to ensure that all glass is “fit for purpose”.

125 Old Broad Street

These premises in the City of London have posed for years an outrageous public risk, yet the regulatory authorities have failed consistently to act. A contract dispute was needed to bring the issue into Court, where a £15 million award was made, with an order to reclad the high rise offices for a third time

Toughened glass facade panes have fallen for years like confetti. Lack of injury to those walking below is miraculous. After the second recladding, a 17^th floor unit plummeted down, striking scaffolding and smashing the glazed main entrance canopy. Broken glass did inflict slight injury.

A curious feature in this affair is the HSE’s outright failure to intervene – surely this must be explained. And why did the City authorities not take matters into their own hands?

Compare this seemingly craven dereliction of duty with the German city of Duisburg’s response 20 years ago, when a similar incident occurred with a high rise office block. A protective canopy was erected around all elevations of the building and the British glazing company concerned was forced by law to take remedial action and cough up for the expenses incurred by the local authority – which they did in a hurry.

Now that’s how you get things done to protect the public safety.

Fire protection

BS476 and its sub-sections cover basic sets of regulation in respect of fire in buildings.

For glass which needs to resist fire, the regulations cover surface spread of flame, fire, propagation, ease of ignitability.

Glass within designated fire doors and screens must also be fitted in a specific manner.

Fire glass is a specific type of product and it is vital that it is marked correctly, that a DoP is supplied to confirm the source of material and that the means of fitting (or refitting in cases of replacement) meets mandatory regulation.

New sentencing guidelines since February 2016:

The Law now acts more aggressively where negligence is proven, resulting in a huge increase in fines and in prison terms for those found at fault.

No longer is a fatality the only major consideration. Serious fines are now the norm, even where no injury is suffered; the risk posed is the basis of assessment, as well as the number of those others whose safety is put directly at risk. A lucky near miss is not a mitigating factor, it just adds to the offence.

Those who hold positions of responsibility and choose to ignore safe glass regulation in the design, construction and maintenance of any building, now risk their own liberty.

Summary

The topic of glass in building is subject to wide legal obligation. The notes offered in this article only scratches the surface of a complex subject.

But those working throughout design, construction and building control need to be aware of their responsibilities to the rest of us, now and in the future use of their creations. Very real professional danger would be run, wherever care is not exercised sufficiently in an litigious commercial climate.

The Grenfell Tower tragedy, and the fiasco surrounding its aftermath, poses a stark example of ingrained incompetence and indifference, which only a banana republic could hope to emulate and expect a United Nations taskforce to intervene.

However one looks in the mirror, outright system failure stares balefully back – rooted in an affluent, lacklustre local authority, slack enforcing of building regulation, poor sourcing of materials, tardy response by Government agencies and shocking local fire brigade management. And disaster recovery was more akin to a DIY project.

Fixing the blame, will be like nailing jelly to a wall. Worse will be the spectre of the Law gearing up for lucrative years of wrangling.

What is the use of deploying a mass of talent and dedicated resources to design and construct a major project, only to have lack of control and non-existent concern derail the final effort? And place so many people in jeopardy?