Got kids? Go cordless!

Consumers shopping for new curtains or blinds should choose options that are cordless. That's the recommendation from Simon Gallagher, The Ministry of Business Innovation & Employment's (MBIE) National Manager Consumer Protection, especially in homes where small children are present.

Six deaths of young children from corded window coverings have been reported in New Zealand by the Coroner’s Office over the period 2009 to 2019. Blinds and window shades with cords are dangerous because young children can get entangled and strangled by the operating or inner cords.

The safest window coverings in homes with young children have no exposed pull cords, inner cords, or cords against the back of the fabric such as those found in Roman or Venetian blinds. These back cords can be just as dangerous and have been the cause of deaths.