Making Homes Safer: Better Warnings Needed on Window Blinds
Posted, June 18, 2010 @ 00:00
Strasbourg 18 June 2010. At the European Parliament's plenary session in Strasbourg, Malcolm Harbour, Conservative MEP for the West Midlands, has urged John Dalli, the European Commissioner responsible for consumer product safety, to address the threat posed by unsafe window blind cords.
It is estimated that some 20 children have lost their lives in the past 10 years as a result of strangulation by looped blind cords in the UK alone. There is already an existing European Standard for internal blinds but the continued fatalities have highlighted its deficiencies and an update is long overdue. Mr Harbour has called on the Commission to work with manufacturers and the European standardisation body, responsible for issuing standards, to introduce more stringent requirements against strangulation risks.
Proper warnings must also be issued for those blinds already on the market and in people's homes, so that parents understand the threat posed by some window blind loops when located next to toddler's cots and beds.
Malcolm Harbour said: "After discussions with the Royal Association for the Prevention of Accidents, and in light of the recent inquest in Staffordshire following tragic deaths of two toddlers, it was clear that window blinds must be redesigned and cords must have further safety mechanisms, to protect children."
"I have urged the European Commissioner responsible for consumer product safety to develop a swift and cost-effective solution to the problem, to ensure that parents can have peace of mind that the blinds they buy will pose no threat to their child's life.
"This is a global problem which requires a global solution and many of the blinds manufactured in the UK are made in other parts of the world. The US and Australian authorities have already started reviewing their regulations and this should provide a good opportunity for European authorities to coordinate efforts and bring about a quick solution. Last week, I met the chairman of the US Product Safety Commission, who is already working on this problem. We need a shared global effort to stop further needless deaths."
"I have also urged that proper warnings are put on existing blinds and that these are made aware to parents, to ensure that they know the risks associated with looped blind cords."