Child safety and blind cords: what the rules require

A looped blind cord hanging at a metre off the floor is at the head height of a two-year-old, does not need much force to tighten, and is silent. That combination is why blind cords appear on child-safety recall lists in every country that keeps them, and why the international standards were rewritten around cordless as the default rather than as an upgrade.

What the standards actually require

There is no Philippine standard specific to internal window blind cords, so a supplier here can legally sell you a long loose loop. We build instead to EN 13120, the European safety standard for internal blinds, and cross-check against ANSI/BHMA A100.1, the North American standard whose 2018 revision made cordless the default for stock products. In practice their requirements come down to four things.

• No accessible loop. Any continuous cord or bead chain loop must either be out of reach or be broken by a device that separates under load — a breakaway connector.
• Out of reach means measured, not judged. Cords and chains should be kept at least 1500 mm above floor level, which is above the reach of a small child standing on the floor. It is not above the reach of a child standing on a sofa or a bed, which is why the next point matters.
• Tension devices must be installed, not supplied. A chain tensioner in a plastic bag in a drawer protects nobody. It has to be screwed into the wall or jamb so the loop is held taut and cannot be pulled over a head.
• Inner lift cords must be contained. On corded venetians and Roman blinds, the cords that run through the blind can form a loop if a child pulls the slats apart. Cord shrouds, cord stops or a cordless lift mechanism are what address this.

What we do as standard

Every corded blind we install leaves with a breakaway connector on the chain and a tensioner physically screwed to the jamb, not left loose. Venetians and wood blinds get a wand tilt rather than a tilt cord, which removes the second loop most people forget about. Where a window is above a cot, a child’s bed, a study desk or a sofa a child can climb, we recommend a cordless or motorised unit and we say so on the quotation, because the safest cord is the one that does not exist. Our installers will not hand over a blind with a loop hanging at 900 mm because the client asked for it; we will change the control side or the mechanism instead.

A five-minute check on the blinds you already have

Do this in every room where a child sleeps, plays or is left with a helper.

• Stand at each window and find every cord, chain and tassel. Measure the lowest point of each from the floor. Anything below 1500 mm needs action today.
• Pull each loop firmly. If a chain or cord loop does not separate at a connector under a hard pull, it has no breakaway fitted.
• Check whether the tensioner is screwed into the wall or jamb. If the loop swings freely, it is not.
• Open the slats of a corded venetian or lift a Roman blind and look for inner cords that can be pulled into a loop from the front.
• Look at what furniture is under and beside each window. A cot, a bed, a toy box or a sofa turns an out-of-reach cord into a reachable one.

Fixes, cheapest first

Move the furniture. A cot relocated to the other wall solves the problem for free and permanently, and it is the first thing we suggest. Next, fit the devices: cleats screwed high on the wall with the cord wound in figure-of-eight, breakaway connectors on chains, tensioners fixed to the jamb, cord shrouds on inner cords. These are inexpensive and we supply them for blinds we did not make — ask, and we will post them.

Then, where a window is genuinely in a child’s space, change the mechanism. A corded roller becomes cordless spring-assist or motorised on the same brackets, so the fabric and the hardware you paid for stay. A tilt cord becomes a wand for the price of a part. Never shorten a cord by knotting it into a smaller loop: a small loop is more dangerous than a long one, because it is exactly head-sized and it will not separate.

For rentals, condominiums and helpers

If you are renting, you can still fit tensioners and breakaway connectors — they are removable and leave two small screw holes. If you employ a helper or a nanny, walk the check above with them, because they are the person who will notice a reconnected breakaway or a tensioner that has been unscrewed to clean behind. And if you are moving into a condominium unit that came with blinds fitted by a previous owner, assume nothing is compliant and do the five-minute check before the furniture goes in.