Other Product Safety

Custom Window Coverings Continue to Put Children at Risk

Advocates urge increased public awareness during Window Covering Safety Month.

 |  Blog Post

Photo by Matt Brown on Unsplash

A recent court decision is a safety setback for children and families.  Despite decades old knowledge about the serious risk window coverings pose to the lives of children, the industry continues to deploy obstructive tactics.  As a result, unsafe custom window coverings continue to present a serious risk to children.

“The heart of the matter for consumers to realize is for decades safety devices and child safety tips failed families who took precautions to keep their children safe,” said Linda Kaiser, founder of Parents for Window Blind Safety.   “The deadly designs of custom products are identical to the corded stock products industry eliminated in 2018.  The percentage of the custom online market is growing larger every year making it more affordable. Every blind that is produced today will remain in American homes for many years to come, perpetuating the hazard.”

About nine children 8 years old and younger die every year from window coverings with long, hazardous cords.  From January 2009 through December 2021, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reported that there were more than 200 incidents involving children, many on custom products with failed safety devices.  For over two decades, parent and consumer organizations persistently worked to eradicate window coverings’ strangulation hazards because the solution is clear: responsible designs.

In 2018, the window covering industry attempted, for the seventh time, to adopt a voluntary standard for cords on stock window coverings.  The standard did not address all hazardous cords and failed safety devices on custom window coverings.  Manufacturers made an eighth attempt at a voluntary safety standard.  However, despite the serious and ongoing risk to children, manufacturers refused to make evidence-based changes to custom window coverings recommended by safety experts and the the CPSC.  Then the CPSC stepped in.  In November 2022, CPSC unanimously finalized a lifesaving window covering rule that eliminated the dangers associated with cords on custom window covering products.

Almost immediately, the Window Covering Manufacturers Association (WCMA) filed a lawsuit challenging the CPSC’s vital rule and arguing it did not substantively advance child safety.  At the same time, children continue to die from window coverings, including a 2-year-old in July 2023.  WCMA also argued the rule is invalid because the President can remove CPSC commissioners  only for cause.  Consumer Federation of America, Parents for Window Blind Safety, and other consumer groups filed an amicus brief in support of the CPSC and argued the rule reduced the unreasonable risk of injury and death to children.

In September 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated the CPSC’s lifesaving rule and remanded the issue back to the CPSC.  The Court had three main takeaways: (1) CPSC erred in how it complied with notice-and-comment rulemaking requirements; (2) CPSC’s cost benefit analysis is flawed because it didn’t rely on the price of custom products; and (3) CPSC chose an arbitrary effective date.  The Court did not consider WCMA’s constitutional challenge regarding CPSC commissioner removal.

What is lost in the Court’s decision, however, is that the CPSC, consumer groups, and parent advocate groups have worked for decades to address the serious risks posed by window coverings.  Yet time and time again, industry failed to adequately protect children and instead put profits first.   Children are still at risk.

“The voluntary standard for window coverings failed children and their families for over two decades,” said Courtney Griffin, Director of Consumer Product Safety at CFA.    “These obstructive tactics reflect a broader goal of regulated industries to undermine the authority of federal agencies whose mission it is to protect consumers.  We will continue to fight for safer products in our homes.”

Consumers, especially caregivers of young children, deserve a just marketplace.  The lives of children are more important than a company’s bottom line.  Parent advocates and consumer groups continue to push for safer, fairer regulations that protect the most vulnerable in our homes.  We call on the CPSC to navigate a path forward that will ensure no other family suffers unimaginable tragedy because of failed safety devices on window covering cords.

To advocate for consumer product safety, individuals and organizations can: