Shopping for her nursery, Kelly Horvath bought a new window shade because its label advertised its child safety features. She later found her 16-month-old son dead in his crib, the shade’s cord wrapped around his neck, another young victim of what U.S. government records show are some of the deadliest recalled consumer products.
"It was the hardest thing I’ve had to go through in my life," said Horvath, a stay-at-home mom in Painesville, Ohio, about the death of her son, Josiah, in February 2007. "I just take it second by second, not even day by day."(read full article here)

The Government in America has failed to take definitive action on the deadly problem of hanging cords from window blinds and shades, even though over 500 children have died in their homes over the past 20 years. Pressure is mounting here in the UK for the Government to have clear legislation and approved safety products available to worried parents who are faced with the choice of having to remove blinds and shades from their home and the expense of replacing them with something safer.

In America manufacturers don’t want new government rules, according to this article. The blinds and shades industry says it has improved safety standards for window coverings and organized educational campaigns to warn about potential dangers.

While this may be true, children are still dying, as demonstrated by the tragic deaths of two children in Staffordshire last month (February 2010). Clear guidelines, safety standards, and safety products must be launched to the market here in the UK to prevent further needless deaths.

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It seems the government in Australia has joined the campaign to get window blinds and shades recognised as being a hazard in the home. Their Minister for Fair Trading, Peter Lawlor, has stated that parents need to remain vigilant about the dangers of blind cords.

"These terrible tragedies highlight the need for parents and caregivers to be alert to the dangers posed by hanging blind and curtain cords that can create a loop that small children can hang themselves in," Mr Lawlor said.

"13 children have died in Australia after being strangled by cords since 2000.

"In the United States, more than 170 children have died from injuries associated with curtain and blind cords since 1991.

"The good news is that parents can do one simple thing to help prevent these tragedies."

Mr Lawlor has announced a 12 month long education campaign to raise parental awareness of the risks, injuries and deaths caused by hanging blind and curtain cords.

Read more here.

In the UK pressure is mounting on the Government to act in a similar way by publicly recognising the dangers and instituting legislation to address them.