Glass can make your home look elegant, light and open. There’s nothing more satisfying than looking at the garden through your floor-to-ceiling windows or sliding glass door. But while this fulfills all your aesthetic desires, there could be hazards if you have little kids at home. You need to take childproofing to the next level and benefit from every glass safety tip you can find.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) identifies unintentional injuries as the top reason 9.2 million children are brought to the emergency room each year. Fall is the number one cause of nonfatal injuries for children 15 years old and below. One of the next two leading causes is being struck by or against an object. Hitting a closed glass door is an example of this.
4 Glass Safety Tips If You Have Little Kids at Home
So, what should you do if you are not willing to give up that awesome glass door but are worried about your kids’ safety? For starters, you can consider these glass safety tips to prevent unnecessary accidents and injuries at home.
1. Replace ordinary glass with safety glass.
Kids will always be kids, and there are times when they become a whirlwind of activity. Many home injuries happen when kids run into a glass simply because they aren’t paying attention and have forgotten that it was there! There are also times when children (especially if they are only visiting) do not notice the glass door leading into the pool and can run straight into it.
If you are using ordinary glass, the sensible thing to do is to replace it with safety glass. This is because ordinary glass shatters into jagged pieces that can seriously cut you or the kids. You can choose from three different categories of safety glass:
- Toughened or tempered glass
Toughened by heat treatment, this type of glass disintegrates into small pieces that are not sharp. However, while this will not cut you deeply, your kids are in danger of choking from these small pieces of glass. So, it is best to keep them away in the event of breakage.
- Laminated glass
This is made of two or more sheets of ordinary glass attached together by a plastic interlayer. The plastic holds the glass together when shattered.
- Wired glass
This has a mesh of wires embedded in it that holds the glass together in case it breaks.
If replacing the entire glass does not fit your budget, you can consider using a stick-on shatter-resistant film on your existing door. It may not be as visually appealing, but it does the trick of preventing the glass from splintering at a fraction of the cost.
2. Use decorative glass door markers.
This is probably the least expensive among the glass safety tips that you can come across. All you need are some stickers and your children’s attention. The more colorful stickers you use, the more your kids will notice them and make them pause before they hit any glass doors or mirrors.
There’s a wide variety of stickers you can use, from popular anime characters to your kids’ favorite sport. The most important thing to remember here is choosing something that your kids really like, as this is likely to catch their attention better than some random shape.
3. Keep furniture away from glass windows.
Kids tend to play a lot and can get too excited and wildly active. As a result, they can easily break windows as they play and get injured either by falling or the broken glass. To prevent them from climbing, and therefore breaking, windows, you must follow these glass safety tips:
- Keep beds, tables, and other furniture that your kids can use to climb away from glass windows. As you probably know, kids are clever and resourceful. So, you should also clear their bedroom and playroom of boxes and other items that they can stack on top of each other to climb.
- Add safety barriers to glass windows that will allow ventilation and opening the windows safely.
- Make sure your windows have locks or safety catches that will prevent kids from climbing out.
4. Glass coffee table should be protected.
Toddlers and preschoolers are clumsy and trip almost too easily. So, better make sure that that stylish glass coffee table of yours is made of tempered glass so that it doesn’t shatter into sharp pieces. Protect it with edge guards to lessen the injury if your kid falls and hits their head on the edge of the table.
Glass Safety Guaranteed by the Experts
Glass King takes your safety to heart. We’re your go-to guys whether you need safety precautions for your kids or just really want a new glass door. We have been providing customers throughout Chandler, AZ with home and commercial glass repair and replacement services.
We strive to keep our customers happy; that’s why we have the prestigious A+ BBB rating for our services. Take a look at our services to see how we can help you. Then call us at 480-389-5656 to ask for a quote.
