Looking for guidance on working with glass on construction sites? Get the essentials in our guide.
Are you a builder or construction company working with glass? If so, you may be looking for guidance on how to handle and transport it.
As with all aspects of construction work, safety is paramount. Glass presents unique safety challenges that call for special procedures, protective personal equipment and regulations.
In addition, many different types of glass are used in construction. These have different levels of durability, safety and thermal efficiency. They also break in different ways. All these factors are worth knowing about before you start lifting, loading and installing your glass.
So, without further ado, here's a builder's guide to working with glass. We hope it helps you understand the issues surrounding this most varied and versatile of building materials.
Please note that nothing in this guide should be taken as official health and safety advice. In the UK, you should always refer to the
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for the latest official guidance.
Types of glass
There are many different types of glass on the market. The most basic are float glass and annealed glass.
Float glass is made from floating molten glass over a bed of molten tin. It's popular both as a material for windows and as the base material for other types of glass.
Annealed glass, meanwhile, is a type of float glass that's been annealed. This means when the glass is removed from the furnace, it's blasted with cold air on one side.
When it breaks, annealed glass shatters into large, sharp chunks. This makes it unsuitable for some installations – specifically, locations where falling glass could injure passersby.
In these instances, architects and designers usually specify safety glass. This is a category of glass that's more robust and built to break in safer ways. The most common types of safety glass are toughened glass and laminated glass.
Toughened glass – sometimes known as
tempered glass – is cooled or "quenched" rapidly. This makes it harder to break than float glass and annealed glass. When it breaks, it shatters into lots of small, relatively harmless pieces.
Laminated glass consists of two or more sheets of glass with a plastic interlayer. At ToughGlaze, we most often use PVB (polyvinyl butyral).
It takes a lot of force to break laminated glass – and when it finally gives way, it cracks along the outer surface, maintaining its structural stability.
Then there's
heat-strengthened glass. This is cooled more slowly than toughened glass. It has a similar break pattern to float glass and annealed glass but is up to twice as strong. Despite its strength, however, heat-strengthened glass is not considered a safety glass under building regulations.
These are the main types of glass used on building sites. However, there are a few more varieties that you might encounter.
Other types of glass for building sites
Insulated glass units (IGUs) are made out of two or more glass panes separated by a spacer. These are often used for windows where additional thermal efficiency is required.
Tinted glass is a type of coloured glass that absorbs solar heat and reduces glare. This makes it an energy-efficient and aesthetically appealing option.
Finally, low-E glass comes with a special coating that improves insulation. It does this by minimising the amount of ultraviolet and infrared light that can penetrate the glass.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of the types of glass on the market. However, we hope it helps you understand some of the most commonly used products on construction sites.
How to handle glass safely
Proper PPE (personal protective equipment) is essential when handling glass. Without it, you put yourself at risk of cuts, lacerations and even puncture wounds.
UK law states that workers on construction sites must wear high-visibility clothing, a helmet and reinforced footwear. When working with glass, you should also wear heavy gloves and safety glasses.
When handling glass, you can use suction cups and other tools to minimise the risk of injury. Glass can also be carried manually. When doing this, it's important to lift from the bottom and keep the glass upright at all times.
Transporting glass
If part of your job consists of transporting glass to the building site, there are safety procedures to follow. These begin in the warehouse when loading glass into the van.
If possible, you should use a dolly built for glass. If you don't have one, you can lift the glass manually, making sure you lift it from the bottom and keep the glass upright.
Inside the van, the glass needs to be tightly secured to stop it from moving around. This can be achieved with a combination of straps and protective materials such as padding, foam and crates.
When loading glass, you must wear appropriate PPE. This will include work gloves, safety goggles and work boots.
This isn't just about protecting yourself and your team from injury. It's also about protecting the materials themselves. If a sheet of glass gets broken, it has to be replaced.
How to clean up glass
If glass breaks on a building site, the first thing to do is cordon off the area. Next, you need to assess the size of the broken fragments.
If you're working with annealed glass, the fragments will likely be large and jagged. These should be disposed of manually by someone wearing proper PPE including work gloves and safety glasses.
If you're working with toughened glass, the fragments will be small and relatively harmless. These can be hoovered up.
As with all aspects of construction, you need to be thorough when cleaning up broken glass. Anything less will put your staff and any site visitors at risk.
Rules and regulations
Whatever project you're working on, you need to abide by local building regulations when handling and installing glass.
Among other things, these regulations will tell you what types of glass to use in different situations. Some of the key regulations are covered in
Approved Document K. However, you should make sure you're across all relevant regulations – as well as HSE guidelines – before starting work.
Are you looking for high-quality
glass building materials? Here at ToughGlaze, we can cut, process and ship thousands of square metres of glass daily.
Get in touch today for a quick, competitive quote.
Join Our Newsletter — No Spam, Just Expert Tips and Updates for Your Next Construction Project!
| ToughGlaze LTD