Kite mark for beer glasses
Toughened glass is not reducing
injuries among people in bars - because there is no industry
standard that manufacturers
have to conform to.
A study published in Injury
Prevention (2000;6:36-40) has
found that staff are more likely
to injure themselves with new,
toughened glasses. The
authors emphasise that this
does not mean that bars
should return to the old
annealed glasses, but that there
must be a minimum standard
for the new ones.
Professor John Shepherd,
leader of the Violence Research
Group at the University of
Wales, the main author of the
study, said that toughened glass
was "certainly the way forward
in reducing injury and violence."
Altogether 3500-5500 people are injured a year in so
called "glassings." Awareness of
attacks was raised after a 1997
campaign led by Glenda Jackson, whose son lost an eye in a
bar brawl. There is support in
the Scottish Parliament for legislation to try to reduce attacks
but little activity south of the
border.
Professor Shepherd estimates that around 30-40% of
bar glasses are now made of the
toughened glass. The glass disintegrates into small cubes, similar to a shattered car
windscreen. The old glasses form jagged shards that are easy
weapons in a fight. Nevertheless,
any manufacturer can claim that
their glass is "toughened", and
publicans want the security of a
kite mark.
Injuries were 60% higher
among those using toughened
glasses, although there was great
individual variation. The study
showed that less force was
required to break the toughened
glasses, partially explaining the
increase in injury. There were
also complaints that the glasses
spontaneously disintegrated on
shelves. Bar staff, however,
expected the new glasses to be
"unbreakable," or harmless
when broken, and may have
treated them with less care.
Over 1200 bar staff in 57
bars and pubs in England and
Wales took part in the randomised controlled trial. All pint
glasses were replaced with either
annealed or toughened glass
and staff recorded any injuries
from handling the glassware
over a six month period.
Alex Brooks, GKT, London
studentBMJ 2000;08:89-130 April ISSN 0966-6494
