Young children can strangle themselves with looped curtain and blind cords. At least 15 young children have died as a result in Australia since the early 1990s, including two in Victoria in August and September 2009.
Order a free safety kit to make looped curtain and blind cords safer in your home.
Very simple, but Victoria only.
No. I am a blind fitter and you can't just cut the cords. All Cords need to be clipped.
like with a clothes peg?
You can chop the cords, but you just end up with weird blinds and still have a strangulation hazard.
can't you solve the problem much easier with a pair of scissors (just cut the loop)?
If you cut the loop then you will end up pulling the cord through the blind winding system, it needs to be a loop.
The point of these is to keep the cord pulled tight against the wall so that there is much less of a danger to children.
i'm eagerly awaiting the plastic bag suffocation safety kit
Okay, I have to admit I laughed a little at the "Young children can strangle themselves with looped curtain and blind cords" line.
Why?
ye, how is that funny?
It sounds really random to me ^^. Though I guess I wouldnt be laughing when my children get strangled by these.
I don't know why people buy these blinds if they have children and are worried about safety.
The blinds where you pull them down a little, let go and the blind winds itself up are easier to use and there are no safety issues with children.
that is true, but i guess some people who move into an existing home/rent etc would not necessarily think about this or have the option to change them.
Hopefully this will create some awareness on the issue.
Yea i agree.
I just remember a story ACA did where they found several people who purchased the cord style blinds and then had problems with their children getting caught
i just wonder how the heck they managed to do that? run against the wall?
I think one case was where the child was playing with the cord and must have decided to sit down with it warped around their neck and the other was a child who climbed from their cot onto the window ledge and then fell with the cord around their neck
ooooommmggg!!!
friggen hell, it was just funny, like i admit, it was funny,
but guys, people do have different types of humours!!
calm your farms!
What was funny?
ohh this guy said that he wanted a suffication prep pack or something and then people said that it wasnt funny and they were all havin goes at him… LOL!!
Cant you just tie a knot (not a dead one, but ones that you can pull to release, like shoe laces) high enough that kids cant reach? Saves you from drilling a hole into your wall.
If you wanted to avoid a hole you could buy a pack of 3M hooks and put it on upside down
http://www.overstockdrugstore.com/product_images/q/051131705…
So like….kids don't climb on chairs? or jump and swing? Children have died because people don't take this seriously. Even if you have no kids, you will be liable if visiting children hang themselves and you have made no effort to safeguard you blinds.
After tying a firm high knot, there shouldnt really be a loop big enough to easily fit a head through by accident. Unless your curtain blinds cords are huge and different to mine…
And by 'tying a knot high enough', I dont mean a knot that is like 5cm above the childs height.
Parents should be actively looking for potential hazards in the home and use common sense, we cant all rely on the government to warn us about things. Im not saying this safety kit is bad, but whats next? Like what mattgal said "I'm eagerly awaiting the plastic bag suffocation safety kit".
Great concept, good to reaise awareness.
But from the video it seems a silly product. A clip to retain a shortened cord?
If you have looped cords, can't you solve the problem much easier with a pair of scissors (just cut the loop)?