A Little About Roller Blinds And Child Safety
There are thousands of children admitted to emergency rooms each year from window related injuries. Fortunately these type of injuries are preventable and in response to public concern the window and window coverings industry has developed new safety devices. These new safety devices, such as window stops, window guards and safety devices for roller blinds will help to prevent further injuries or even death.
The following are three of the most important safety devices you should use if you are concerned about your child's safety around windows.
(1) Window Stops
A window stop might be a suitable safety device if you have windows that normally stay closed, as the window stop will prevent a window from opening more than ten centimetres. The only downside to using a window stop is that you will not be able to open the window fully, so if you are looking or a safety device that will allow you to have more ventilation you will want to go with the window guard option.
(2) Window Guards
Since window screens are not effective for preventing children from falling out of window, windows guards are one of the best solutions on the market today. Window guards can help prevent serious falls from windows as they act like a gate. Installed in front of the window, window guards are available in both horizontal and vertical bars. When looking for a window guard you will want to find one that has a release mechanism so that it can be fully opened in case of an emergency, like a fire. In order to prevent a child from squeezing through, the bars of the window guard should be a maximum of ten centimetres apart.
(3) Safety Devices for Roller Blinds
Most roller blinds manufactured before 2001 may not meet the current child safety regulations because older roller blinds tend to have long cords that sometimes form a loop. A long cord, especially a looped one, is a danger to a child’s safety as children can easily get tangled up in the cord and strangle themselves. Some of the older roller blinds have cords without stoppers, which make them accessible to children. These horrible accidents usually occur to infants and toddlers. Infants who were placed near a window may end up strangling to death in their own cribs. Toddlers tend to die this way after climbing up to see out of a window, falling, and getting caught in the cords of the roller blinds. Fortunately strangulation by blind cord deaths are preventable. Since roller blinds purchased before 2001 pose the greatest strangulation risk, there are a couple of things you can do. You can purchase an upgrade kit that will include safety tassels and stoppers for your older roller blinds, or the best action you can take is to install new roller blinds that are made with child safety devices.
Ultimately window safety is the choice of the parent. If you are at all concerned with the safety of your child you may want to look into childproofing your windows and roller blinds.
About the Author
ABOUT THE WRITERS David Leonhardt and Corey Rozon are freelance writers who write articles on numerous topics. This article on was written for Blindsuk.net, the maker of roller blinds with unique child safety devices incorporated into the design.
Your can use this article in your website but you must keep all the links in it.
by: crozon
Date: Jul 30th 2008 | Words: 504 | Viewed: 1 times | Rating: Not yet rated
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