Blinds can present a strangulation hazard to small children as they may become entangled in the chain while playing or trying to use them.  Blinds can also pose a risk to infants that are playing or sleeping in cots placed near windows with blinds.  Tragically there have been a number of cases where children have been caught in blind chains resulting in life threatening injuries and even death.

Both the UK and more recently Australia have introduced mandatory standards around cord safety for blinds.  Even though a similar standard does not yet exist in NZ we have decided to follow their recommendations and provide child safe tensioning hooks with all our new blinds.

chainsafteyhookThe hook is securely fixed to an adjacent surface and at the maximum distance from the top of the blind so the chains are held permanently taut by the hook.  It also provides the added benefit of stopping the chain swinging and banging around in the wind when the window is open.

If you step up to one of our motorised options then you don’t need to worry about any chains at all.

You can learn more about the UK standards from here