A Risk That Most Families Face

Most of us have probably never even thought about the risk that having blinds can be in homes with children. If you've ever looked at the long, looping, cords on window blinds and wondered if they could be a strangulation risk to children, the answer is yes. Window cord deaths still happen about once per month in the United States. Between new regulations and easily implemented measures at home, however, this risk can be greatly reduced.

On the industry end, several advances have been made to keep children safe. In 2018, the Window Covering Safety Council announced new regulations that denoted "A vast majority of window covering products sold in the United States will be cordless or have inaccessible or short cords." About 80% of window dressings will adhere to this new standard. In addition, window blinds sold since November 2000 have attachments on the pull cords so that the inner cords can't form a loop if pulled by a young child. Consumers who have window blinds with loops should immediately visit the Window Covering Safety Council website, windowcoverings.org, or call 800-506-4636 to receive a free repair kit for each set of blinds.

What else can you do to keep dangerous cords inaccessible to children? Assess the cords currently present in your home, and in homes where children gather. Do they need to be updated with safe cords? Even if they are above a child's reach, could they be accessed if a child brought over a chair and climbed up to play with them? (for whatever reason, window blinds seem to be very tempting to children!) Pay special attention to places where children are left unsupervised, such as bedrooms at night and during naptime, where they could access blinds without you realizing it.

Window blinds are such a standard in many homes that many of us would not immediately think of them as a risk. However, these injuries and deaths do occur each year and can be avoided!
 

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