Safety first: How can our pleated blinds be childproof?

There is nothing more important to us than your safety, so our blinds are made and supplied with safety in mind. All our layouts adhere to norms regulating child safety for operating cords of window treatments.

Our cordless blinds do not have any operating cords, but are adjusted with operating handles fixed to the rails. However, they are braced with tension cords that extend to the mounting hardware, and these must be installed following the installation guidelines so that there are no loose cords in the system. We do not recommend installing cordless blinds immediately adjacent to each other unless at a height of 1.6 metres from the floor (at the lowest point), as the adjacent lateral tension cords of two blinds may form a tensioned loop that could present a strangulation hazard.

Our cord-operated blinds are supplied with tie-down cleats to be fixed to the wall, with which to anchor the pull-cord. To comply with Australian standards, a cleat must be installed at a minimum of 1.6 metres from the ground, so that young children cannot play with cords or put them around their necks.

Blinds must be installed in accordance with Australian mandatory product safety standards (as set out in the Trade Practices (Consumer Product Safety Standards – Corded Internal Window Coverings). All our blinds are supplied with relevant warning labels and contact details, and must be installed following these safety steps:

• Blinds must be installed in a way that ensures a loose cord cannot form a loop 220 mm or longer at or less than 1.6 metres above floor level.
• Blinds must also be installed in accordance with the installation instructions supplied, and using any components specified in the installation instructions as necessary to meet requirements for cord safety.
• A cleat used to secure operating cords must be installed at least 1.6m above floor level.
• Warning labels and/or swing tags supplied with blinds must not be removed.

Blinds with long, unsecured cords are a strangulation hazard for children. Our tips for keeping your windows child safe:

• Keep babies’ cots and beds well away from windows and ensure that all blind cords are out of reach.
• Toddlers love climbing: where possible, keep furniture away from windows.
• Ensure a cleat is installed at a minimum of 1.6m from the ground, to keep cord blinds out of reach of young children.