PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – Isaac Beraha and his girlfriend were sleeping on Christmas Eve when they heard the sound of glass shattering.
The sound was that of the glass door to the shower spontaneously shattering.
"It happened like an explosion," Beraha said.
Beraha captured the aftermath with his cellphone.
Local 10 News has learned this is happening across the country.
Since January 2012, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has filed 195 reports of shattering glass shower enclosures involving different manufacturers.
A few years ago, Kohler recalled about 100 of its shower doors after consumers reported that they were shattering. In a recent comment by the company posted on SaferProducts.gov, the manufacturer explained that all the doors are made with tempered glass.
Pierre Mayrand, president and chief executive officer of Glass Doctor in Miami, told Local 10 that tempered glass is designed to break into many small pieces. It's a safety feature making the glass far less dangerous than fewer, large shards of glass.
Damage to the edge of the tempered glass, he said, or perhaps microscopic imperfections could be behind a door's spontaneous shattering. Mayrand recommends making sure that clips holding glass shower doors are secure and checking the edges for cracks.
In the complaints filed with federal regulators, most people were not near the doors when they shattered. But they were hurt while trying to clean up the mess.
Mayrand recommends wearing safety boots.
Beraha is working with his Hallandale Beach landlord to contact the door's manufacturer for a replacement. In the meantime, he's using a shower curtain as a shield just in case it happens to the other door.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has recalled glass shower doors when it finds a pattern of defects in a specific make and model of a product.
Reporting these incidents helps them to find these patterns.
To report an unsafe product and read recent glass shower shattering reports, visit SaferProducts.gov.
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