Safety for children around blinds and window shades with cords
Tenancy Services is working with Consumer Protection to raise awareness of the deadly combination of loose cords and young children in homes. In the time it takes to fill the kettle, a small child can get hurt or even strangled in a cord from a blind or roller shade if it's not securely tidied away out of reach.
What you can do
Start by going through your rental homes to identify any blinds or curtains with long or looped cords that are within a child's reach or near furniture they can climb on. If you are a tenant, you can do this immediately and if you are a property manager or landlord you can include this in your regular property inspections.
Replace or remove any window coverings with cords, use a tension device to keep cords safe, retrofit cords to make them safer and keep all cords out of reach.
You can get tension devices (also known as "cord tensioners" or “cord cleats”) from hardware or window furnishing stores. This is a minor change that can be purchased for a small cost and makes a great difference towards safer homes for children.
More information on Blinds and window shades with cords(external link) – Product Safety New Zealand
Find out how to request to make a minor change to the rental property
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