Government unveils safer prototype pint glasses for pubs
Home Secretary Alan Johnson has unveiled two new prototype pint glasses designed to cut down on the injuries caused by the 87,000 glass attacks that occur in the UK every year.
The new pint glasses, which are designed not to shatter into loose and dangerous shards, will now undergo a range of intensive tests before being piloted in pubs and bars.
They are intended to be an alternative to plastic glasses, which are thought to be unpopular with drinkers.
The glasses, which the Government said were the first advance in glassware for pubs since the 1960s, come in two designs:
- Glass Plus: looks like a regular pint glass but has a thin transparent coating of bio-resin on the inside. This makes the glass stronger and shards bind together in bigger pieces if broken.
- Twin wall: made by bonding two ultra-thin layers of glass together in a similar way to laminated car windscreens. If the glass, which is reputedly extremely hard to break, is broken, shards would be held together by resin.
The Home Office's Design & Technology Alliance Against Crime and the Design Council, which developed the design are already in talks with major pub chains about trialling the Glass Plus glasses, which it is hoped will be ready within 12 months.
The Home Office said that glass attacks cost the NHS an estimated £2.7bn each year, while alcohol-related violence is estimated to cost the UK between £8bn and £13bn a year.
Home Secretary Alan Johnson said: "Glassing causes horrific injuries and has a lasting and devastating impact on victims and their families. I hope these designs will help bring an end to such attacks. While this is never going to be the only answer to preventing such violence, it is an important step forward which could also provide retailers and drinkers with a preferable alternative to plastic glasses."
David Kester, chief executive of the Design Council, said: "There are many benefits here; these innovative new designs could help protect the public and reduce the burden of coping with glassing related injuries. In the current economic climate it is also good to see such a thorny problem turned into a global export opportunity for British business."
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By Neil Gerrard
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