Safety & Glass Tempering

Unlike ordinary glass, the glass used in Futureglass products offers the reassurance of conformance to British Standard BS 6206A for maximum safety. Ordinary glass or annealed glass is a brittle material. This is due to the microscopic cracks that exist on the surface of the glass. When the glass breaks, it generally forms large dangerous shards which can cut deeply. An example of this is shown below from an inferior product. This is not the glass used by Futureglass.

The tempering process used to produce glass for Futureglass causes these microscopic cracks to close, making the glass four to five times stronger than annealed glass. This gives the glass a compression value greater than concrete.
If this toughened glass were ever to break, the stored energy is released and the increased bond between the molecules makes the glass shatter, forming small particles with dulled edges. This toughening process ensures that glass in Futureglass products offer the reassurance of conformance to British Standard BS6206A for maximum safety. An example of this is shown below.

The safety of key Futureglass products has been independently verified by FIRA (Furniture Industry Research Association) where the products were awarded a range certificate of safety. We are also in regular contact with Trading Standards to ensure that Futureglass continues to adopt best practice for maximum reassurance.

BS6206 is the British Standards Institute’s safety standard introduced to regulate the use of flat glass within buildings. Its aim is to reduce the number and severity of cutting and piercing injuries as a result of an accident with glass. All of the 10mm glass used in Futureglass products is toughened to meet or exceed the toughest category of this standard, category A.
Since this standard was withdrawn and updated with BS EN 12150-2:2004 as a european standard Futureglass is pleased to ensure that it conforms to the new standard.

We complete non-destructive testing on every batch of glass we use. Our procedures have been independently verified with the awarding of a range certificate of safety from FIRA (Furniture Industry Research Association). To reinforce our own safety procedures, we supply care instructions for all products illustrating their correct usage.

We test all products for performance and safety. Independent testing at FIRA (Furniture Industry Research Association) saw our audio-visual supports pass safety testing for loading of 100 kilos per shelf at the maximum shelf spacing of 350mm for a 5 shelf 5 pole unit.

We provide care instructions and advice with every purchase. If you have any concerns about the safety of our products, please contact us to discuss.