The object of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness, in terms of injury prevention, of toughened pint glassware in bars. A random sample of 57 bars in South Wales, W Midlands and the W of England together with a total of 1229 bar workers was sampled, recording bar staff injuries monthly by number, site and severity. During the trial, 98 bar staff experienced 115 injuries; 43 in the control group, 72 in the intervention group. Adjusting for people at risk gave a relative risk (RR) of 1.48 (confidence interval (CI) 1.02-2.15. Thus, injury rate was 60% higher in the intervention group, with no significant difference in severity. Most were hand injuries requiring first aid. Injuries tended to occur simultaneously in more than one body part in the intervention group, reportedly caused by spontaneous disintegration of toughened glassware.
