Child Safe Blinds

At Signature Blinds, we hold child safety as one of our fundamental standards and are continually striving to make your home a safer place. All blinds installed by Signature Blinds conform to current child safety regulations. You can be assured that the products you choose with us are child safety focused.

If a blind with a cord or chain is chosen, added safety features can prevent the possibility of risk. Signature Blinds offer a number of additional safety options for blinds including:

• Cord and chain tidy.
• Easy Break Chain Connector
• Cord and Chain Safety Cleat.
• Spring Cord Tensioner.
• Safety Tassel

Consumer Guide
The National Consumer Agency urges parents, guardians and carers of young children and managers of public buildings, such as schools, libraries, crèches, playgroups and Montessori’s to take all necessary measures to protect young children from the possibility of being injured or strangled by window-blind cords/chains/ball chains or similar.
In particular we advise the following:

General advice

• Move beds, cots and other furniture away from window blinds with exposed cords/chains/ball chains or similar. Children can climb furniture to get at them
• To avoid strangulation and entanglement, keep cords/chains/ball chains or similar out of reach of young children. Young children should not be left unattended
• Do not tie cords together
• Make sure cords do not twist together and create a loop
• Safety devices such as hooks or cord tensioning wheels may be purchased from hardware stores or curtain shops and are relatively inexpensive. Please consult with a window blind manufacturer/installer to assist in making the correct decision as to which is the best solution for you when retrofitting old blinds
• Allow the installer to fit the safety devices as it has come to our attention that some customers are refusing to do so.

Purchasing new blinds
• Confirm with the supplier that the blind complies with the Irish standard IS EN 13120 – Internal Blinds – Performance Requirements Including safety
• Check that safety devices are incorporated into the blind or that they are supplied separately
• Check that installation instructions are provided
• Check that warning notices are attached to the blind
• Retain the instructions for further reference

Retrofit old blinds
You can retrofit your old blinds to make them safe in your home by following these steps

• Cut the cord to get rid of the loop and install tassels
• Cords should end at least 1.6 metres above the floor so children cannot reach them
• Replace cords/chains/ball chains or similar with blind wands
• Where cords cannot be cut, a safety device should be used to pull the cords/chains/ball chains or similar tight and secure it to the floor or wall

Be safe
The NCA wishes to warn consumers, however, that the new safety measures on their own cannot totally remove the risk of strangulation or injury to children.
Parents and guardians are therefore urged to take all necessary safety measures to enhance their children’s safety.

A word of caution!
These tips should help to protect your child from possible serious harm.
You should be aware that all risks cannot be eliminated. Parents and people should always follow the safety instructions, and you should always keep window blind cords and parts out of the reach of children.
Using safety devices may reduce the risk of a child being strangled but nothing can be considered risk proof.
Contact Signature Blinds on 018991945 or email info@signature.ie if you have any questions about our Child Safe Blinds.