Case Study 1 – Safe Glass-Safe City
Case Study 1 – Safe GlassSafe City
Areas of impact: Alcohol-related crime, anti-social behaviour and safer drinking
Social enterprise location: Manchester, UK
Short description of activities:
Greater Manchester Police have led “The Safe Glass-Safe City” campaign since 2000 with the aim of reducing alcohol-related crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour both inside licensed premises and in public spaces.
It is a partnership that is growing and has resulted in close work with the Government; initiatives include calling on pubs, clubs, bars and restaurants to use toughened glasses.
Toughened drinking glasses have been developed to prevent injuries from violent assaults with broken drinking glasses (’glassing’). Toughened glasses are harder to break and when broken shatter into small blunt pieces making them impossible to cut someone with. An additional bonus is that the toughened glasses last up to five times longer than conventional glasses under normal use conditions.
Why it's a social design:
The toughened drinking glass is a product design response that directly tackles the social problem of violent assaults with broken drinking glasses. Such assaults are commonplace; in 2008 there were over 5,000 assaults using broken glass as a weapon of choice.
In 2004, the Sunday Times noted ...in Dublin, glass is the weapon of choice among Ireland’s fighting youth, prompting calls for plastic substitutes to be used in pubs and nightclubs. A new study has found alarming levels of glass wounds among accident and emergency patients at a Dublin hospital. Up to 40 per cent of all assault victims seen at St James’s Hospital were attacked with broken glass or bottles.’
The toughened drinking glasses thwart the negative impacts of this behaviour, by removing the opportunity to use the glass as a weapon. The success of ‘The Safe City’ initiatives has also enabled other groups in the UK to carry out similar programmes to reduce the number of alcohol-related assaults and injuries.
What is its design aspect?
The specially-formulated toughened glass, from which the drinking glasses are made, is produced using a similar technique to that of tempering steel; repetitive heating and cooling of the glass creates multiple layers within the material. This strengthens the glass, increases its impact resistance by more than five times and eliminates stress points, allowing it to withstand temperature extremes. If it is smashed, it breaks into loads of tiny, blunt pieces. It also feels like a ‘normal’ glass to the user.
Main actors and interactions (including stakeholders, networks, services and revenue streams):
- Greater Manchester Police collaborated in the research and promotion
- AlphaBar, drinking glass suppliers based in Warrington, produced a concept glass
- Demaglass, Britain's biggest producer of glasses for the drinks industry, manufactured the glass
- The breweries must specify the glass for their pubs to bring benefits to the public
Social Impact:
- As a result of the ‘The Safe Glass-Safe City’ programme, many city centre bars and clubs are using toughened glass products
- During the 2000-2001 financial year, the number of serious assaults in Manchester city centre fell by 8.1 per cent. In 2001-2002, a further 12.3 per cent reduction was achieved.
- A reduction in violence on the streets reduces the amount of public and private property damaged as a result of these incidents
Economic Impact:
- A greater awareness of the benefits of toughened glass products has been generated, which has meant greater use in bars and pubs creating a 15 per cent increase in turnover for Alphabar
- There are significant savings to the public purse from reduced violent incidents and their consequences
- Reduced risk of violent crime means that people are more likely to go out in city centres
Environmental Impact:
- The Safer Glass-Safer City campaign has led to the creation of new laws that prohibit the drinking of alcohol in public areas, this reduces the amount of bottles and glasses left on the street
Links:
www.citycentresafe.com
Extended case study: Sheffield Hallam University
Manchester Evening News Article – ‘Campaign to halt glassings praised’
The Independent – Article: ‘Tougher glasses to cut pub violence’