I have two sons.  One is 6 years old and the other 17 months.  I also have a glass table in the playroom.  Well that is all about to change.  A recent report from The Children’s Hospital Boston says that at least 20,000 people are injured and 3 people die every year from glass related injuries.  I interviewed a Boston mom whose daughter was injured while playing around a glass table.  A shard of glass had to be removed in the emergency room and she is fine now.  Then another little girl from Arizona narrowly escaped with her life when a shard almost pierced her kidneys. 

It doesn’t have to be this way.  Tempered or safety glass is used in outdoor patio furniture, shower doors and in car windows.  If it is broken it breaks down into small pieces, not sharp shards.  Safety glass comes at a price.  It runs from 25%-40% more than conventional glass.  If you have a glass table, you can have the glass heated and made into tempered glass.  I plan to do that.  Having bumpers around the table will not prevent the glass from breaking.  It just isn’t enough protection for your little ones.

After my report aired today on “The Today Show” a colleague told me that her friend was sitting on her glass table when it broke.  He had to be sent to the hospital to have the shards removed. So it’s not just about kids!

Thankfully there is talk in the industry to make a change to safer glass.  This week the ASTM International, which creates voluntary standards for glass furniture makers, is meeting to revise their glass safety standards.  The hope is that they will now make furniture using tempered glass.  Meanwhile Representative Allyson Schwartz (D) PA reintroduced the Katie Elise and Meghan Agnes Act, which requires the Consumer Product Safety Commission to require any furniture containing a glass surface, be safety glass.

Let’s all hope the lawmakers can make this happen.

You can watch my full report on www.msnbc.com