What Glazing is Affected...

‘Critical locations’ is the term given to describe the areas of internal and external walls, doors and partitioning which are of primary concern in terms of glazing safety. These areas are depicted here and described in the two categories below:

Critical Locations Are...

Between the finished floor level and 1500mm (shoulder height) above that level in doors, and in side panels which fall within 300mm of either edge of the door. Between the finished floor level and 800mm (waist height) above that level in the case of walls, partitions and windows.

The New Regulations State...

Workplace Health, Safety and Welfare Approved Code of Practice L24 Regulation 14 is a legal requirement from 1 January 1996. It is also incorporated into the Building Regulations BS 6262 Part 4, Safety, Human Impact. Its effect is to prevent serious injury to persons through accidental collision with glazing at work:

• Every window or glazed area in a wall, partition, door, or gate shall be of safety material or be protected against breakage - ie, it should not break on impact or should break safely.
• Safety glazing material must meet BS 6206 Class B in doors and side panels over 900mm wide, and Class C in those less than 900mm wide. Low level glazing must meet a minimum of BS 6206 Class C.
• This entails the use of laminated, toughened or safety-wired glass, or plastic glazing sheet that meet BS 6206, or glass with plastic film applied so that the pane of glass with the film meets BS 6206 Class A or B.

The Manifestation of Glazing

• Existing glazing must also be appropriately marked or featured so as to make it apparent and thus avoid the risk of collision because it is not properly visible.
• In particular, large uninterrupted areas of glazing where people might reasonably think they can walk straight through.
• For more details on ‘The Manifestation of Glazing’, please contact your dealer.

You May Think That...

The glass used in fire doors is already safety approved.
The glass used in fire doors may be approved for fire safety but probably not for impact safety. Any door glazing or side panels below 1500mm from ground level (roughly shoulder height) - which includes most fire doors - must be made safe against human impact to BS 6206.

or That...

Only glass in doors and glass partitions must be made safe.
Any glass which is within 300mm of a doorway and below 1500mm, or windows and partition glazing that in part fall below 800mm from finished floor level, must also be made impact-safe to BS 6206 in its entirety and, where necessary, be made apparent by the application of suitable MANIFESTATION.

or Perhaps...

We’re OK - we had safety glass fitted when the offices were built (or refurbished)
Each pane that complies must be individually marked to the applicable BS 6206 compliance, ie. BS 6206 A or B-F (F = film).