As more and more tempered glass is now being used in public places in Xiamen, increasing numbers of residents have been expressing concerns about its safety, according to reports.
Tempered glass can now be seen everywhere in the city. The Avenue of the Stars in Xiamen's Haiwan Park is 300 meters long and 40 meters wide, with 2,076 LED lights set into the ground. Tempered glass floors are also widely used across other public places in Xiamen, such as Ruijing Commercial Plaza, SM Shopping Mall, etc.
According to one worker in Haiwan park, there have been no problems reported with the glass or lamps so far, and have any accidents been reported since they were installed.
However, experts have pointed out that using toughened glass can pose a safety risk because of the tendency of the glass to shatter completely upon hard impact. In some cases, it can also break seemingly spontaneously for no apparent reason.
"Minor damage during installation such as nicks or chipped edges can later develop into larger cracks and breakages, and internal defects within the glass such as nickel sulfide contamination can also cause tempered glass to break." according to Mr. Zhang, a businessman in Xiamen.
