Curious, growing minds are a joy to watch develop, exploring, crawling and climbing. Before you know it, they are up on the windowsill looking for the perfect view of the outside world. Most accidental deaths involving blind cords occur in children aged between 16 and 36 months – mobile toddlers who haven’t yet fully developed the muscular control. With underdeveloped windpipes, if the neck is restricted toddlers can be strangled quickly and quietly by looped cords and this has even happened with carers in close proximity, unaware of the entanglement. It’s not a very pleasant thought and it is the reason why it is at the forefront of our manufacturing process, so much so that we implemented child safety 2 years before the ruling to make it a legal requirement. Put simply, where there is a loop that is present, or could be created, a safety device is installed at the point of the manufacture. These safety devices either break under pressure, tension the cord or chain or provide the facility to store cord out of reach. There is also a maximum chain and cord length imposed and we will not manufacture anything that falls outside of these conditions. Thankfully there are also a range of cordless options available starting as simple as a mono command wand on vertical and panel blinds or a crank handle for rollers. The sophisticated Senses slow rise system for roller blinds is a smooth spring operated touch mechanism that mimics motorisation. Not only do these alternatives eliminate risk completely, but they are clean, contemporary and look great!