You’ve probably heard of Window Films being used to reduce heat and glare in buildings. Do you know that Safety Window Films can play a big part in keeping occupants safe from harm and bringing buildings in line with current regulations.
If you manage any building it’s important to prioritise this. It is especially pertinent for properties where the most vulnerable in society frequent. For those who manage school and hospital buildings, business premises, rented properties etc. our Safety Window Films are a cost-effective option.
What is Safety Window Film?
Window Films are thin laminated polyester based products which adhere to existing windows and other glass surfaces to serve a variety of purposes.
Safety Window Film once installed to existing glass upgrades non-compliant glass to safety glass, preventing them from shattering if the glass breaks and reducing the risk of injury for those nearby.
How does it work?
When safety glass is installed in a building, it is designed to either hold glass fragments in place when a panel breaks, or break safely minimising injury.
It can be expensive to replace glazed units with safety glass. Using Safety Window Film is a more cost-effective way to achieve the same result – compliance and peace of mind.
The Window Film provides extra strength to the glass it’s applied to, reducing the initial risk of breakage in the first place.
And if a panel is shattered, the Window Film will hold each glass shard in place, reducing the risk of injury hugely.
This also means less tidying up, safer cleaning, much less contamination of your premises and downtime for your building whilst replacement takes place.
Why is Safety Window Film needed?
Glass breakage is incredibly dangerous and can occur in buildings for a huge range of reasons from building subsidence and weather conditions to vandalism or impact by a person or other source.
In each of these cases the risk of injury from sharp edges is huge, and for those in schools and hospitals, etc. it poses a danger to those who may not be able to protect themselves.
As well as a desire to keep all building users safe, whether that is workers and children, property owners should be aware that current Health and Safety Legislation and building regulations require a minimum impact safety performance standard – BS EN 12600 – within critical locations.
A 2024 study of 500 secondary school teachers estimated that a typical school experiences three smashed windows annually, sometimes as a result of intentional vandalism.
Our 100 Micron Safety Window Film is approved on all safety standards (BS6202, BS6262 and EN12600), ensuring that even glass which is not installed as safety glass can adhere to Regulation 14 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992.
Even for buildings which members of the public don’t enter, it is legally required that this regulation is met, and Safety Window Films provide a simple way to fulfil this legal duty, as well as improving safety in the building.
Glass safety approved
Did you know that in critical locations, every safe piece of glass in the country should be marked with an approved identity to show that it won’t cause injury if it breaks?
If you choose Sureguard Window Filmsâ to install your Safety Window Film, we will mark each protected glass pane with the approved identifier, to clearly state that the combination of Window Film and glass meets the safety requirements set out by law.
As well as the Sureguard Window Filmsâ company name, the marking includes the safety standard achieved and the year of installation. Without this marking, Window Film will improve the safety of the glass pane but won’t satisfy the legal definition of a safety material as laid out by the Building Regulations and Health and Safety Legislation.
Unfortunately, marking the glass is not something that building owners are able to do themselves, as your panes will not have the required compliance markings, and adding these yourself would be deemed a false statement of professional installation.
To ensure the highest possible standard in legal compliance, we will never apply safety markings to third party Window Films, so that we can state with absolute certainty that we know the Window Film concerned will keep your building safe, giving peace of mind for those in schools and hospitals as well as other buildings.
Frequently Asked Questions
We know that there’s a lot of information to take in here, and you may have some questions about how it all works.
Here are the top three that we answer from clients:
- Aren’t Window Films an expensive option?
As so many public buildings have to budget carefully to make sure their finances best serve those in their care, you’ll be relieved to know that the answer is no!
Compared to the price of replacing a glazed unit, the application of a Window Film is incredibly cost-effective, allowing you to save money overall even when using a professional supplier and installer like Sureguard Window Films®.
- Won’t the installation of a Window Film be very disruptive?
Whilst this one slightly falls into the ‘how long is a piece of string?’ category, as the disruption to your building will depend on the scale of the project. We can state with certainty that installing a Window Film will definitely be less disruptive to the use of your property than it would be to replace the current glazed areas with safety glass.
We know that for schools and hospitals especially, it’s important to minimise downtime in your building, and Window Films are a great option for this. Depending on the size of the project, we would estimate that it would take no longer than 15-30 mins per window.
- Won’t the Window Film change the appearance of the building?
Not unless you want it to! Our Clear 100 Micron Safety Window Film, is just that; CLEAR. You will not be able to tell there is any Window Film on the glass.
All of our Window Films are made of biaxially oriented PET, which is exceptionally clean and transparent visually, and barely visible to the naked eye.
Having said that, if you require a tinted variation to achieve Solar Control performance, frosting to increase Privacy or even branded graphics, our Window Films are customisable to suit these needs, so as well as improving the safety of your building, Window Film can solve other glass related issues and add extra value in these areas too.
Contact us today about improving student and staff safety in your building
Safety Window Film is recognised as a highly effective way to improve the safety of glass and is recommended by local authorities to avoid injuries from glass.
It’s clear that if you want to prioritise the safety of those in your property, Window Films are a simple and affordable way to keep people safe and make sure you’re meeting the legal requirements.
Contact us today to talk about installing a Safety Window Film in your building – we can’t wait to hear from you.
