Shatterproof solution
October 1st 2007

The lighting industry federation has drafted an industry standard for Fragment Retention Lamps that will become effective by the end of 2008. Chris Payne, director of Fotolec-Glass, comments "Shatterproof fluorescent lamps were introduced into the food industry about 15 years ago to prevent glass contamination from accidental lamp breakage. Unfortunately, some of these coated lamps, often manufactured by small companies, did not come up to standard. "Typically the coatings would become brittle and would yellow and crack well before the end of the lamp's life. This means that if it exploded or was accidentally broken during relamping, the coating would shatter or split and glass fragments would escape. "Problems get worse when companies install shatterproof lamps into enclosed IP65 fittings. These operate at higher temperatures than standard, open batten types, so they degrade even faster. In some cases, shatterproof lamps have actually caught fire or dripped hot plastic onto the plastic diffuser covers. Payne says that a single black band around one end of a lamp means that the coating will contain glass for the lamp's entire life, even if it used in IP65 enclosed fixtures.