One person has suffered minor injuries after a large glass panel that was being replaced on the 76th floor of the world's second largest skyscraper, the Shanghai Tower, plummeted to the ground, local media reports say.

According to the Shanghai Daily, the accident occurred when workers from the Shenyang Yuanda Aluminium Industry Engineering Company – the supplier of the glass panels used in the building’s double facade – were replacing a damaged panel on the outside of the building, which stands at 128 storeys and 632 metres tall, and is expected to be open to the public soon.

The panel plummeted and shattered on the ground next to a driver who was stepping out from his car. The shards left cuts on his foot but he suffered no serious injuries.

The company promised to “take measures to prevent similar accidents in future”.

Most of the glass shards scattered along the wide road of an adjacent street, which is the location of the famous trio of skyscrapers of Shanghai.

Together with the Shanghai Tower are the Jin Mao Tower – operational since 1999, and 412 metres or 88 storeys tall – and the Shanghai World Financial Centre, popularly known as the “bottle opener” for its unique structure, which is 492 metres tall and has 101 floors.

The Shanghai Tower is a vertical tower of glass, covered by an outer glass facade that elegantly twists on itself as a roll.