Safety of children is a serious issue. As children grow, so does their curiosity with the world around them. Basic household items, including window coverings can turn into potential hazards. It is important to evaluate the safety of any products within the home environment.

In the last few years there have been several high profile cases of accidents involving window blinds and young children. This has prompted the development of a new European Standard: EN 13120 – Internal Blinds Performance Requirements Including Safety

General Advice
Buyers and users of blinds should be aware of the hazards that can be posed by unrestrained cords, braids, loop chains and wires which may be hazardous to young children and the following general guidelines should always be followed:

• Position furniture a safe distance away from blind and windows to prevent children from being able to reach them

• Do not allow control cords or chains to hang close to cots or beds, or to gather on the floor.

• Do not allow control cords to or chains to hang free. They should always be secured out of reach, or a cordless control should be used

• Never leave a child unsupervised in an area where there are potential safety hazards – even if safety devices have been installed. – The CEN Standard states that “persons in charge of children are ultimately responsible for following the safety instructions provided by the manufacturer”

Child Safe Devices from Luxaflex®
Making our products safer for homes with infants and young children is a top priority and we are continuously creating new systems to make our window coverings even safer.

There are a number of features across our product ranges which address the issue of minimizing the risk to children:

• Quick release cord tassels are fitted as standard on many Luxaflex® blinds. These tassels break apart and separate when pressure is applied to them.

• Luxaflex® UltraLift™ is a revolutionary retractable cord lifting system, available FREE OF CHARGE with Luxaflex® Silhouette® Shades. UltraLift™ allows the user to effortlessly raise the shade and the cord retracts itself automatically, meaning the cord will never hang down.

• Cordless blinds eliminate cords altogether. Hand operated blinds can be lifted or lowered by pulling/pushing on the bottom bar. This option is available on Luxaflex® Duette® & Plisse Shades, 16mm & 25mm Metal Venetian blinds, spring rollers and Skylight Window blinds.

• Luxaflex® Vertical Shades area available with a 'slide/tilt’ wand – a unique operating system which has been specifically designed to allow both the slide and tilt functions to be controlled by a single, easy to use wand – without the need for operating cords and chains.

• Battery powered and hard wired controls eliminate lift cords and are available on most Luxaflex® products. Shades can be lifted and lowered at the touch of a button.

• A number of Luxaflex® window coverings are completely cord-free, such as Luxaflex® Japanese Design Panel Tracks and Interior Shutters.

Luxaflex Duette®, Plisse and Metal Venetian shades are now available with a 'SimpleFit’ option. This easy to install system eliminates the need for free-hanging cord loops as the shades are raised and lowered by hand or control wand.

If however, you want a product without any of the features above safety will still not be compromised. All Luxaflex® products are supplied with a with a cord safety device which enables any cords or chains to be fastened to a wall – out of the reach of children:

* Cord Cleat – supplied with products which have a single pull cord

• Endless cord/Chain retainer – supplied with products which have an endless chain or cord

• Double chain & cord – supplied with vertical louvre blinds which have both endless cord and chain

A warning tag which highlights the dangers to children is supplied with every blind and is also repeated in the installation instructions.