Child Safety Week 2023

Posted: 6 Jun 2023

This week is Child Safety Week – an annual campaign by the Child Accident Prevention Trust to raise awareness of the risks of child accidents and how they can be prevented. The CAPT provide a range of resources to help promote safety messages in a fun and engaging way. This year they set the theme as “Safety Made Simple”. This topic is important to us as we ensure we meet the requirements of child safety blinds.

One of the main focuses of child safety week is that of blind cord safety. Blinds that have looped cords as part of their operation can be incredibly dangerous to younger children. Young children can easily get tangled in looped blind cords, usually blinds fitted in a living room or bedroom. Sadly, around two children every year are killed after becoming entangled with a looped blind cord.

Child Safety is something we take extremely seriously at Specialist Blinds. Wherever possible we always recommend that you choose blinds that are “Safe By Design”; which means that they have no elements to their design or operation that could be dangerous to children. By their nature all roof blinds are child safe, but we also offer a range of window blinds that are child safe by design:

SmartCord™ blinds have a unique cord that retracts away to a safe length. They’re an innovative way to have a cord-operated blind that is safe for children.
LiteRise™ blinds have a counterweight mechanism which allows you to move the blind easily. The blind stops where you move it with no need for any dangerous cords.
We designed our exclusive pure™ Side Blinds to be totally child safe.
Of course, all electric blinds are totally child safe. We have many different motorisation options available for side blinds, including battery powered options and even smart blinds that can connect with devices such as Alexa and Google Home.

Child Safe Blinds with Looped Cords

However there are some types of blind that do need a looped cord. For these, we will always fit them with a child safety device such as a cleat or a break-away connector. We also ensure that all cords can be tied at least 1.5 meters away from the ground.

If you have any blinds in your home that have looped cords – no matter where you bought them from – it’s important you make sure they’re properly child safe. This can be a very simple fix involving fitting a cleat next to the cord, which will allow you to tie it off at a safe height. The BBSA has even released a video explaining how to do this.

It’s important to note that this doesn’t just apply to blinds at home. Blinds in any public buildings also need to be totally child-safe; including using child safety devices where needed.