Posted By Harry Cowling I work for an Osteopathic Clinic in London. I have been advised by our practice manager that mirrors for use in clinical practice rooms should be acrylic rather than glass. These mirrors will be attached to the wall and will be three-quarter length, principally to aid patient when dressing after treatment. Can anyone advise whether this is indeed the case?

Posted By John Webster Not so quick to scoff, Saracen :-). May be thinking of the need for healthcare premises to provide beds for those at risk of suicide, in which case any area where a suicidal patient could be alone has to be carefully planned - acrylic mirrors, jugs, tumblers etc, lack of ligature attachment points, and the like. Would also be a consideration in areas where there is risk of people breaking things to use as weapons. Otherwise, any fixed glass which extends to within a certain distance of the ground (sorry, can't recall the figure but it is somewhere about 1m) must be toughened or laminated and "kitemarked", or could be acrylic or polished metal instead. I would imagine that full-length glass mirrors now sold would be of that standard anyway, and therefore safe from both deliberate and accidental breakage, but you would need to check.

Posted By Linda Westrupp harry I am fairly sure you also need to make sure that mirrors, like everything else in the room, can be easily and thoroughly disinfected to prevent infection control risks. Linda

Posted By Harry Cowling Thanks for your comments everyone. Some useful feedback there.....