Blind cord and chain safety
RoSPA
Blind cord and chain safety
Do you have any blinds in your home?
According to our recent survey*, 80% of UK homes have blinds, however 70% of respondents said they had never received any advice on blind cord safety. Worryingly, 62% of parents with children under five said that they hadn’t received any guidance on installing and using blind cords and chains safely.
We’re really concerned by this gap in people’s knowledge.
Why? Because blind cords and chains can be deadly. Tragically, nine children died from blind cord strangulation between April 2019 and March 2022** and RoSPA is aware of at least 33 UK deaths in the preceding 20 years.
The statistics are sobering, particularly for parents with young children. That’s why we’ve worked closely with the British Blind and Shutters Association and other partners to raise awareness of blind cord safety.
And there’s good news. Since 2014, changes to standards have made blinds safer. If you buy a new blind with a looped cord or chain today, it will have a safety device already installed or included for you to install yourself. But that doesn’t solve the huge problem of the millions of blinds installed before 2014. Which may not have any life-saving safety features – so you need to act . If these blinds cannot be made safe by the addition of safety device(s) they should be replaced.
Blind cord safety | Do you have any blinds in your home? - RoSPA