About Families Online

Feature Articles for March 2003

From planning a dream home to remodeling the family room to rearranging the garage, spring is the season when homeowners reconsider their living spaces. The Window Covering Safety Council (WCSC) reminds consumers that spring is also a good time to analyze the safety of one’s home.

Many homeowners still have not taken steps to update window-covering products in their homes to comply with current safety standards. It is important to consider the seriousness of the situation, as the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has received reports of more than 140 strangulation cases involving window-blind cords since 1991 and warns that it is important to protect children up to the age of six from window-cord hazards.

Purchase Safe Window Treatments
Those purchasing new window-covering products should ensure that the products that they buy adhere to current window-covering safety standards and do not have looped pull-cords or inner cords that can be pulled to form a loop.

Some homeowners are choosing to purchase products that have no cords at all. From old-fashioned cordless blinds to remote-controlled roller shades, the industry continues to develop innovative cordless and motorized window-covering products in fabrics, metals and woods that are more visually appealing to sophisticated consumers and easier to install than in the past.

A breakthrough addition to the motorized concept is a “garage door” blind that is highly sensitive to motion and automatically stops lowering when something touches the bottom rail. The design prevents children from being harmed by falling window blinds, and the danger of window cords is eliminated.

A variety of new products are catching on, but it’s important to remember that older corded blinds are still prevalent in many homes. While style and convenience are prompting many to consider safer, more modern options, window-covering manufacturers are urging those who want to hold on to their older blinds to examine safety concerns and take advantage of free industry initiatives to repair their existing blinds.

Reduce the Risk
Consumers can eliminate or severely reduce a child’s access to windows and cords by following these safety rules:

• Move all cribs and furniture as far away from windows as possible, preferably against another wall.
• Install cord stops on horizontal blinds and mini-blinds to prevent inner-cord access.
• Secure all pull-cords out of reach by using a cleat or permanent tie-down device.
• Eliminate looped pull-cords on older (pre-1995) mini-blinds and shades by cutting the loop and attaching safety tassels to the pull-cord ends.

WCSC distributes free cord-repair kits to consumers through its toll-free hotline: 800-506-4636. More information and demonstrations of cord hazards and appropriate methods of repair are available at www.windowcoverings.org.