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Incorporate glass safety norms in building by-laws
The fatal glass door injuries suffered by a bank customer in Kerala this June should serve as a grim reminder to all those state governments that have failed to
The fatal glass door injuries suffered by a bank customer in Kerala this June should serve as a grim reminder to all those state governments that have failed to fully incorporate glass safety norms in their building by-laws, thereby exposing consumers to the risk of serious injury and even death from poor quality , annealed glass doors, walls and partitions.
On June 15 this year, 46-year-old Beena Paul’s visit to the Perumbavoor branch of Bank of Baroda turned tragic, on account of the unsafe glass door. As she accidentally ran into it on her way out, the glass broke into jagged shards and pierced her abdomen, killing her. If only the door was made of tempered safety glass made to Indian Standards specifications, it would not have broken so easily when Beena bumped into it and even if it did, it would have disintegrated into small, granules, thereby preventing any injury .
It’s not as if state governments or the construction industry is unaware of the risks associated with the use of annealed glass in certain critical areas in buildings. In fact it was way back in 2007 that the Confederation of Construction Products and Services (CCPS), a non-profit organization, drafted the first set of guidelines on the selection of appropriate glass in modern buildings, to prevent glass related injuries and deaths. This was one of those private sector safety initiatives, but involving all stakeholders, including the government sector at the central and the state levels.
The ‘Guidelines on the use of Glass in Buildings: Human Safety’ was thus an important milestone in the area of glass safety at a time when the use of glass in public, private and commercial buildings was increasing exponentially.
The Guidelines of 2007 were reviewed and updated in 2009, 2013 and 2015 and throughout this period and even subsequently, concerted efforts were made by the Central Public Works Department, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (and even the Planning Commission at one stage) as well as CCPS to get the state governments to adopt the Guidelines . Many state governments did incorporate them, but it’s anybody’s guess as to how many states/local bodies are scrupulously implementing them and ensuring that only safety certified, tempered or laminated glass is used, as required under the Guidelines.
Following Beena’s death, it was found that even though Kerala had adopted the 2015 Guidelines in its building rules, they were only applicable to multi-storeyed buildings!.The government has since issued a directive on compliance with the Guidelines in all buildings, but a PIL in the Kerala High Court has demanded that the building laws be amended.
Hopefully, states that have not incorporated the Guidelines or are not enforcing the Guidelines strictly, will not wait for another tragedy, to rid all buildings of annealed doors, partitions and walls and ensure full compliance with the Guidelines. (The National Building Code 2016 also deals with human impact safety under ‘ Glass and Glazing’)
I must also mention that since most ‘walk-through’ accidents involving see-through glass doors or partitions are caused on account of the impression of unimpeded path of travel created by them, the Guidelines also mandate incorporation of manifestations to make the glass visible. This is also an extremely important safety provision.
Now in order to prevent the use of sub-standard or fake safety glasses in buildings, the union ministry of Commerce and Industry has brought them under mandatory quality certification. The Safety Glass (Quality Control) order says that safety ( tempered and laminated) glass cannot be sold or used without the mandatory ISI mark, indicating their conformity with IS 2553(Part 1) 2018: Safety Glass specification for architectural, building and general uses. This will come into effect from April 1, 2021.
This will not only ensure the use of only quality certified safety glass in all commercial, public and residential buildings, but also help consumers using glass in their homes, particularly for partition and doors, to buy genuine safety glass.
