Blackout Blinds and the Importance of Child Safety

June 7th, 2022
DesignNewsProduct

This week sees the start of Child Safety Week from Monday 6th to Sunday 12th June; which is an annual community education campaign run by the Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT) to help families build their confidence and skills and therefore, manage risks to their children’s safety. The aim is for all children to have the freedom to grow and learn whilst being kept safe from serious harm. The team at Alle Interiors take safety in the home very seriously and wanted to play our part in educating our customers on a very serious issue of Blinds Safety.

Sadly 2 children die every year in the family home after becoming entangled in the cords of blinds, and over 30 have died in the last 15 years. Toddlers and young children love to climb and are therefore, at the greatest risk of being killed or injured by window blind pull cords in their bedrooms or living rooms. Many parents underestimate quite how high they can reach as it can take just 15 seconds for a toddler or young child to lose consciousness if they become entangled in a blind cord, and they can die in as little as 2-3 minutes. Therefore, they don’t have time to warn their parents or carers that they are in trouble and are not strong enough to free themselves.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) reports that whilst new regulations are in place for any new blinds sold, there are still millions of older blinds in homes across the country, particularly in rented homes. New legislation came into force in February 2014 which governs the way in which manufacturers, suppliers and installers of window blinds and shades, are legally bound to supply products which are manufactured as safe, tested and installed to strict guidelines.

Safety measures you can take include moving furniture away from windows (cots, beds, highchairs and play pens) and adapting your existing blinds by adding rear cord and chain break-away devices, chain tension devices or wooden batten safety devices. Some of these can be clipped on and others need to be sewn on with cords and chains kept at a minimum 1.5 metres from the floor level.
For more information, please go to https://www.hallishudson.com/downloads/pdfs/latest_news/WFN-MAY-16_How-to.pdf

When it comes to knowing which new blinds to choose for your home to prevent these shocking accidents; all new blinds with looped cords must have child safety devices installed at the point of manufacture or be sold with the blind. Child safe blind designs include wand-operated vertical blinds, spring-controlled roller blinds, friction controlled pleated blinds, friction operated Perfect Fit blinds, motorised blinds and crank-operated blinds.

Here are some options Alle Interiors recommend that adhere to current legislation; which still looking attractive in your home.

Roman Blinds
Roman blinds are a stylish way to protect your interior from the sun whilst keeping your home cool. Alle Interiors can make them to your style specification and also offer a blackout option for a child’s bedroom. They can then be motorised with a Somfy motor to make life easier (and safer for children), operated either by a switch on the wall, via the Somfy app, included in a Smart Home scenario or controlled by a sun sensor to make sure your home is always a pleasant temperature. Using a motor to open and close your roman blinds smoothly and regularly means that they last longer and also protect your home, as they can be operated remotely to make it look like you are at home.

Alle Interiors also recommend Louvalite’s range of blinds which all adhere to current safety regulations.

Louvolite One Touch/Motorised Blinds – These battery and mains powered blinds are available in a huge range of fabrics, colours and designs to match your individual interior design scheme. You can operate single or multiple blinds via remote control, voice activation by either Amazon Alexa or Google Home or via an app on your phone. They are a popular choice for conservatories with lots of windows, shading large bi-folds or just if you want easy operating of your blinds from the sofa.

Louvalite Perfect Fit Blinds – These are the most attractive and innovative blinds available and fit inside your door and window frames. They therefore, move seamlessly when the windows and doors are opened to give a perfect combination of shade and ventilation. Available as roller, pleated, Cellular, Vision or Venetian blinds, they come in a huge range of fabric, frames colours and designs to match your individual interior design scheme. Installation is quick and easy as there is no drilling or screwing and they are easy to remove for cleaning. They leave window sills clutter free and there are no loose cords which make them child safe, with the option of them also being motorised.

Louvalite Roller Blinds – These streamlined roller blinds are the ideal window shading for any room in your home and are made to measure to your unique specification. You can choose from high end lustrous weaves, contemporary natural textures, block out plains and prints and they can also be made in moisture resistant prints for the kitchen or bathroom or in energy saving fabrics with enhanced insulating properties.

By educating and sharing information on blinds and child safety; we can all help to do our bit to try and prevent these needless and shocking deaths of young children by a product we all have in our homes.

For more information regarding Blind Safety please go to https://www.capt.org.uk/blind-cords

For more information on Blackout Blinds – Follow the link below where you can find the brochure for the Louvalite range of Motorised, Blackout Roller Blinds and Perfect Fit Blinds and look through the full range of different styles and colours available. Or contact us on alle-interiors.co.uk/contact for booking a design consultation and/or measure of windows.

Notes: –
Alle Interiors is a small creative team providing a one-stop-shop for all your interior design and soft furnishing requirements with customer service their utmost priority.

Brochure