Preventing injuries from bar glasses

EDITOR, - Jonathan Shepherd's editorial on preventing injuries from bar glasses highlights the importance of violence as a public health issue.1

Work in the south east of England to determine priorities in preventing accidents and reducing injuries that are consistent with the Health of the Nation strategy has provisionally identified assaults among young men (aged 15 to 34) as an area for further consideration.2

As a result, East Sussex Health Authority is currently conducting a retrospective study into the causes of injury among the 316 declared victims of assault who attended a local accident and emergency department in 1993. How many of these assaults involved injuries from beer glasses has yet to be determined. Initial correspondence with the local licensed victuallers association suggests, however, that publicans will be resistant to the voluntary introduction of tempered glassware regardless of the final extent …