Security

Typically speaking, a building's must vulnerable part is its windows. Whether it be the easiest point of unwanted entry, or the first to give out during a bomb blast explosion / windstorm, glazed surfaces can expose building occupants to high risk. 3M Safety and Security Window Film helps minimize this threat by holding glass fragments in place.

A would-be burglar most often targets a door or window to gain entry into a home or office. A quick “smash” to the glass allows the prospective felon to “grab” valuables, thereby committing a “crime” to the victim – hence the term “smash and grab crime”. 3M security film strengthens glass by adding an invisible protective layer that holds broken glass in place. A window that might otherwise take a robber five seconds to break through might now take one minute. And since wasted time is a criminal's worst enemy, that burglar may decide to burgle elsewhere.

Click to see man smashing window (20 MB).

Not only does 3M Safety and Security Window Film help deter smash and grab crime, but the very same film helps to protect building occupants from the effects of a terrorist's bomb or natural windstorm.

An explosion may cause nearby glass to implode in tiny shards at high speeds which are lethal to building occupants. In fact, studies have shown that flying glass shards is the number two cause of death during a bomb blast – only behind the trampling effect where the floor above collapses. 3M security film, or fragment retention film, another name by which this product is known, helps to hold these tiny glass shards in place, or at least reduce the speed and number of shards that implode. In fact, fragment retention film was credited for saving many lives during the September 11th terrorist attack on the Pentagon.

Buildings located in areas susceptible to hurricane damage are also candidates for 3M's Safety and Security Window Films. Flying debris caused by a windstorm can strike a building's windows at high speeds and injure building occupants.

Click to see how glass behaves during a bomb blast (4 MB).

Click to see hurricane testing (29 MB).