Public Safety, Comments on the Nature of the Safety Glass Failure:
There is a misconception that tempered glass is safe because it breaks into small cubes when it breaks. This is true if the glass is broken by impact from a direction perpendicular to the surface of the glass piece (i.e. someone walking into a window). This is not true of a suspended piece of tempered glass. If this glass fails due to NiS inclusions or for some other reason that does not include side impact, the glass can fall in large interlocking sheets. In this case, the tempered glass doe not perform safely. That is, someone walking under this piece of tempered glass can be seriously injured. Therefore, one should be cautious when selecting decorative glass hanging over public access areas. For these applications laminated glass is much safer.