Kid deaths prompt push to change design of window blinds

Each year, about 12 children die of window cord strangulation, making it one of the top five hidden hazards in the home, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). 

The CPSC voted last week to begin a process which could ultimately lead to mandatory safety standards for all new window coverings. The move came in response to a petition filed in May 2013 by Parents for Window Blind Safety and six other consumer safety groups in an effort to take the outer cords off of all window coverings.

A 1994 recall and retrofit of window blind cords failed to reduce the number of deaths of children who got caught in the blinds, according to Linda Kaiser, founder of Parents for Window Blind Safety. In fact, from 1996 to 2012, more than 1,500 children across the country were seen in the emergency room as a result of injuries suffered from window blind cords.

"Kids are still dying the same way, on the same cords. They have been dying for 20 years. There is just not a significant change in the product design and there are so many different products and so many different ways children are dying on them," Kaiser said.

Twelve years ago, Kaiser lost her 1-year-old daughter to window blind cord strangulation.

"Even parents who follow all the safety tips and tie the pull cords out of reach are losing their children. I thought that my daughter was in a safe environment. I too, pulled the cords out of reach. What age is it OK for us to go and cook dinner and leave our kids in a room that we think is safe?" Kaiser said. "When we're doing what we're told by the industry and by the government - if that's not safe enough, then something else needs to happen."

The Window Covering Manufacturers Association issued a statement shortly after the vote by the CPSC.  Executive Director Ralph Vasami said that the organization is extremely disappointed with the vote to move forward with the petition, although the group remains confident the commission will find that the voluntary safety standards are working, and a mandatory standard is not warranted.

Vasami went on to say that the petition's proposal to "eliminate accessible cords or make cords inaccessible" would only result in removing safe products from the market and cost thousands of jobs throughout the United States.

The Window Covering Safety Council offers the following tips for parents and caregivers:

• Move all furniture, cribs, beds and climbable surfaces away from windows.

• Keep all window cords well out of the reach of children.

• Install only cordless window coverings in homes with young children.

• Make sure tasseled pull cords are adjusted to be as short as possible.

• Continuous-loop pull cords on draperies and vertical blinds should be pulled tight and anchored to the floor or wall with a tension device.

• Be sure cord stops are properly installed and adjusted to limit movement on inner cords on blinds and shades.

Kaiser said the technology is there to remove outer cords from all window coverings.