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See other news storiesRevolutionary new pint glasses designed to make drinking safer
4 February 2010
The Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, has unveiled two revolutionary prototype pint glasses. These new glasses are designed to reduce the terrible injuries caused by glass attacks.
Designing out crime
The safer pint glasses, designed not to shatter into loose and dangerous shards, have been produced as part of the design out crime programme. This is an initiative from the Home Office’s design and technology alliance against crime, and the Design Council.
Although alcohol-related violence has fallen by 33 per cent since 1997 there are still 87,000 violent incidents involving glass each year.
Important step forward
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.
‘Tackling crime is not just about police action. Innovation and design also have a huge impact.’
Two new designs
The two new designs are the first major advance in glassware for pubs since the 1960s.
‘Glass Plus’ looks just like a regular pint glass, but has a thin transparent coating of bio-resin on the inside. This makes it stronger, and if the glass is broken it binds together dangerous shards. This drastically reduces the likelihood of injury to customers and staff.
‘Twin Wall’ is a revolutionary design, made by bonding two ultra-thin layers of glass together in a concept similar to that for laminated car windscreens. It makes the pint glass extremely difficult to break. In the event that it does smash, any dangerous shards would be safely held together by a layer of resin.
The design and technology alliance is already in talks with major pub chains about trialling the Glass Plus glasses, which could be ready within 12 months. The Twin Wall design will be further refined in consultation with manufacturers to investigate possible large-scale production.
Watch a video about the design of the new safer pint glasses and find out how they have been designed to not shatter into loose and dangerous shards.
See more videos on our YouTube channel (new window).
