The most recent standard from ASTM International – one of the largest standards development and delivery systems in the world, representing over 130 nations – regards glass furniture. The standard has been in development since 2008, three years after the Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, made a proposal to ASTM International that an industry standard for furniture glass be written.
ASTM International has completed work on its long-anticipated glass furniture standard. The standard, titled ‘Glass Used as a Horizontal Surface in Desks and Tables,’ was completed late in 2012 and addresses ‘serious human injury and fatality incidents involving breakage of glass used in unenclosed horizontal surfaces in desks and tables.’
“This specification is intended to minimize the likelihood of serious cutting and piercing injuries that may occur due to the breakage of glass used as a horizontal surface in desks and dining, coffee, end, display, mobile, outdoor and other types of tables,” says ASTM.
The standard aims to ensure that safety glass is used ‘when used as an unenclosed horizontal surface under 44 inches in height in a desk or table.’
It also includes a provision that all glass panels that fall under the scope of the standard should be marked as ‘safety glass, safety tempered glass or laminated safety glass as appropriate.’ Additionally, the glass should be marked as meeting ASTM F2813-12 by either the glass fabricator or the furniture manufacturer. The standard is available for purchase on the ASTM website.
The standard requires that glass used in desks or tables (under 44 inches in height) must comply with the performance criteria of ANSI Z97.1-2009, and does not permit the use of monolithic annealed, monolithic chemically-strengthened or monolithic wired glass in these cases.
Glass equal to or greater in area than 9 square feet must comply with Class A and glass less than 9 square feet must comply with a minimum of Class B performance, according to the standard.
The exceptions to the standard are glass fully supported by and bonded to a non-glass material and glass surfaces incorporating or constituting display screens.
The standard has been in development since 2008, three years after the Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, made a proposal to ASTM International that an industry standard for furniture glass be written, after numerous reports of deaths and injuries related to glass furniture. The standard originally was balloted last winter.
ASTM International is one of the largest standards development and delivery systems in the world, representing over 130 nations. ASTM International provides a forum in which stakeholders from both the supply and demand sides of the marketplace come together and produce documents for trade and best business practices that are used around the globe. ASTM’s market relevance is evident in over 100 industrial and management sectors.