Blind Safety – Advice and Obligations for Landlords
In recent years, there has been a strong focus on blinds safety due to a number of high profile deaths of children caused by loose or looped cords. This is why Allegro Blinds are here to share and provide advice to landlords about how they can make the blinds in their properties child-safe and also what their obligations are.
What are my obligations as a Landlord?
Landlords and letting agents must make sure that their window solutions are Safe by Design first. When furnishing your property you will want to consider cordless or concealed tension cords – so either, blinds without any dangling cords – i.e those without the dangerous loop – or ones that can be operated with a simple push and pull technology.
For other styles, you will want to check out their safety specifications before purchasing, to ensure that they are safety compliant. It might be the case that you can make your current blinds safer with the use of certain devices; should you implement these, make your tenants aware so that they know how to use the blinds properly and safely.
If you do not comply with these safety measures, should anything happen, you can be held liable for accidents and injuries that happen in your property.
What are the exact regulations?
If your blinds are old, it’s likely that special measures need to be put in place to ensure that all cables are neatly away, in order to prevent accidents and injuries.
- Tests must be done to ensure that your blinds meet all critical safety requirements
- Tests with new safety devices implemented
- Maximum cord length of 1.5 metres above the floor
- To keep documentation of warnings and instructions
Why is blind safety important?
Letting agents and landlords need to be aware of the safety regulations in order to prevent any accidents, or worse, fatalities within the home.
Research has shown that most accidental deaths have been caused by blinds cords involving children between 16 and 36 months of age who have become tangled within the loop cord of a blind, resulting in suffocation. Blinds with cords in a toddlers bedroom can be extremely dangerous because they are active but still very top heavy. At this age, toddlers’ windpipes are not quite formed yet, meaning that they are smaller and more rigid than an adult’s or an older child’s – as such, it takes much less time for them to suffocate.
Reduce the risk!
- Install blinds without cords, such as electronic blinds or push/pull blinds
- Do not place a child’s cot by a window
- Use cleats, clips or tidies for any pull cord mechanisms
It’s incredibly difficult keeping up with the new safety measures for homes, especially if you’re a landlord, which is why Allegro Blinds are here to share their professional advice. That way, you can keep your properties safe and up-to-date to ensure all obligations are met. For quality blinds, expert fitting and friendly advice, come to Allegro Blinds today. We work throughout Harrow, Watford, St Albans, Welwyn and Dunstable/London, so if you’re within these locations, please feel free to give us a call today.