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Avoiding Tragedy: 3 Ways To Make Window Coverings Safer In Your Home

Window coverings with cords identified as one of the top hidden hazards in the home

By Kara Murphy September 12, 2022

Did you know the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has identified window coverings with cords as one of the top hidden hazards in the home?

That's because of the strangulation risk from corded window coverings to infants and young children. Injuries may range from fatal, to bruising or scars around the neck, to permanent brain damage.

Often these incidents happen so quickly and silently that caregivers nearby don't even realize what's happening until it's too late.

What can you do?

The Window Covering Safety Council, a group dedicated to educating parents and caregivers about the potential strangulation risks of window blind and shade cords, offers these suggestions to avoid this danger in your home:



1. Check your existing window coverings 

If any of your windows coverings have exposed or dangling cords, which can pose a strangulation hazard to infants and young children, replace them with cordless products. If you can't replace them, make a serious effort to shorten or to tie up all cords to ‎assure that any and all cords are ‎out of the reach of young children so they can’t access them and become entangled.

2. Install only cordless window coverings or those with inaccessible cords in homes with young children

It's not just young children at risk. Infants can also become entangled in window blind cords. Put blind cord safety at the top of your child-proofing checklist!

3. Look for the label

When shopping, look for products marked with the Best for Kids™ certification label. Best for Kids products are available at all major US retailers. In order to be eligible for this certification, manufacturers must meet the specified criteria and submit their window covering products to a designated third-party testing laboratory. Products that qualify for “Best for Kids” either have no cords, no operating cords and inner cords that are not accessible, or if accessible inner cords are present in products with no operating cords, the accessible inner cords cannot create a hazardous loop.

The bottom line: Children and window covering cords don’t mix. When window covering cords are accessible to small children, these seemingly harmless products may become strangulation hazards. Check your window coverings today!

Find more information now on The Window Covering Safety Council website.