Manufacturers of window blinds have begun installing safety features on their blinds and giving parents tips to minimize the potential for child injuries from the use of their products. These measures, according to parents and advocates, are not enough as children are continuing to be strangled in the cords at an average rate of one child per month.

Window blind manufacturers have been asked by The Consumer Product Safety Commission to design and implement a way to eliminate the strangling risks from the cords on their products or face strict mandatory regulations. Critics of the window covering industry complain that blind manufacturers have been dragging their feet on addressing serious safety risks for decades.

The window blind industry has been working with a task force of regulators and consumer advocates in response to the push by The Product Safety Commission. They say that safety is a priority and they will have a solution before Fall 2011.

Cordless blinds are a much less dangerous alternative and have been available for several decades, but manufacturers insist that they are more difficult to manufacture and can cost up to twice as much as corded blinds.

Industry representatives insist that it's not realistic to expect blind manufacturers to eliminate every hazard. They insist that strangulation deaths will decrease as old blinds are replaced by newer models with more safety features.

Parents and consumer advocates feel that child safety should always be a higher priority than money and there is more the window blind industry should be doing to increase safety and decrease risks to children.

Source: New York Times, "Concern Grows Over Window Blind Safety," Andrew Martin, 4/20/2011