Gov’t warns industry that blinds, shades must be safer or it will face new regulations

Gov’t urges industry to make window blinds safer

WASHINGTON — Government safety officials warned window blind and shade manufacturers Thursday that their products — responsible for one child strangling each month — must be safer or they will face new regulations.

Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairman Inez Tenenbaum said that window blinds manufacturers must quickly develop safer standards for window blinds and shades. If not, the government will stop relying on the industry to set its own standards and instead develop its safety standards for window blinds.

Tenenbaum discussed the issue with representatives from the window blinds industry and safety advocates Thursday.

Whether through voluntary or mandatory rules, safer standards could mean more cordless window blinds sold on store shelves, or window coverings sold with inaccessible cords.

Still, no specific designs were agreed upon Thursday as the best way to eliminate the strangulation hazard, and the agency didn’t set a deadline for the industry to act. Government mandatory standards generally take longer to implement than an industry’s own voluntary standards.

There have been millions of blinds and shades recalled in the past several years, yet advocates point out that fatality rates haven’t improved much and the process for improving designs is slow.

“They’ve had so many chances to get this right on their own,” said safety consultant Carol Pollack-Nelson about the industry.

The meeting came after safety officials in the U.S., Canada and Europe openly called for better safety standards for window blinds and shades. The government agencies asked for better standards in a letter this week to four organizations in the U.S. and abroad that help create standards for window coverings.