Window Blind Cord Safety

Cords

CPSC counted 100 child deaths on window covering cords

CPSC databases contain incident data showing a total of 209 reported fatal and nonfatal strangulations on window coverings among children eight years and younger, from January 2009 through December 2021. Nearly 48 percent of the reported incidents were fatal, 100 of 209.¹ That is the agency's own wording, in the text of the rule.

The rule is 16 CFR 1260, a consumer product safety standard for operating cords on custom window coverings, with an effective date of May 30, 2023.¹ It incorporates ANSI/WCMA A100.1-2018, the American National Standard for Safety of Corded Window Covering Products, approved January 8, 2018, published as a read-only copy.²

The reason this belongs in a kids room guide rather than a window treatment guide is CPSC's own framing. It calls cord strangulation a hidden hazard, notes it happens in rooms considered safe such as a bedroom, and states that adult supervision is unlikely to eliminate or reduce it.¹

Six things the federal cord rule actually says

All six come from the text of 16 CFR 1260, with the figures intact.

What is covered

The part establishes a consumer product safety standard for operating cords on custom window coverings, effective May 30, 2023.¹ The incorporated standard is ANSI/WCMA A100.1-2018, approved January 8, 2018.² Ask a dealer to confirm in writing that what they quote complies with it.

The hidden hazard finding

CPSC states that strangulation deaths and injuries on window covering cords are a hidden hazard because consumers do not understand or appreciate the hazard, or how quickly and silently strangulation occurs, and that because young children may be left unsupervised for a few minutes in a room considered safe, such as a bedroom, adult supervision is unlikely to eliminate or reduce the hazard.¹

Why cleats are not the answer

The rule addresses the common retrofit directly. Safety devices such as cord cleats and tension devices are unlikely to be effective, because a cleat must be wrapped each and every time the covering is raised or lowered, and because incident data show children can still access and become entangled in cords by climbing on furniture.¹

The scale of the installed base

Approximately 145 million corded custom window coverings were in use in the United States in 2020.¹ About 25 million custom window coverings were shipped in the United States that year, and about 15.9 million of those were corded.¹ The hazard is not concentrated in old houses. It is being installed.

What CPSC says they cost

A federal regulator is the best published source here. Retail prices of custom window coverings vary substantially: the least expensive units for an average size window retail for less than $40, while some more expensive units may retail for several thousand dollars.¹ That is a per-unit figure for an average size window, not a room or a house.

The furniture underneath the window

CPSC names climbing on furniture as the way children reach cords.¹ The same behavior drives the other bedroom hazard: 44 percent of reported tip-over fatalities happened in bedrooms, and climbing was the mechanism in 78 percent of known child furniture death scenarios.³ Anchoring and going cordless are one job, not two.

Twelve blinds, whole house$448.32, metal or vinyl horizontal (CPSC)

Least expensive unit, average windowUnder $40 (CPSC)

What does it cost?

CPSC published the numbers, with its methodology stated. Staff based the analysis on the data point that the average detached, single-family household has 12 window coverings.¹ For metal or vinyl horizontal blinds, $23.67 is slightly more than 5 percent of the total cost of $448.32 that a household would spend to update their window coverings.¹ Read that carefully: $448.32 is a whole-house set of twelve of the cheapest blind type, not a price per window or per room.

The $23.67 is the net cost of the rule itself, not the cost of the blinds. Staff calculated a net cost of the final rule of $1.97 for metal or vinyl horizontal blinds, which across twelve coverings equates to $23.67 per household every time a household updates their custom window coverings, about once every 10 years.¹ One gap: no source found publishes a corded versus cordless comparison at the same size and brand, so the premium cannot be quoted here.

Every dollar figure above is CPSC's own, published in the text of 16 CFR 1260 with its methodology stated; the $448.32 is a whole-house set of twelve metal or vinyl horizontal blinds and excludes installation, other blind types and any other window size.

Hiring

How to hire for window coverings in a child's room

1

Who does the work

A window covering dealer measures, orders and usually installs, and custom product is made to your measurements, which is exactly the category the federal rule addresses.¹ No license specific to window covering installation appears in the sources used here. What is federal is the product standard, so your leverage is in what you order.

2

What pros will ask

Expect questions about window sizes, inside or outside mount, and light control. Add the one they may not ask: tell them children eight years and younger will be in the room, the exact population in which CPSC counted 209 reported strangulation incidents from January 2009 through December 2021.¹ Ask whether what they are quoting is custom or stock product.

3

What to check before signing

Get written confirmation that the product complies with 16 CFR 1260 and ANSI/WCMA A100.1-2018.¹² Refuse a quote that solves an accessible cord with a cord cleat or tension device, which CPSC says is unlikely to be effective.¹ Count the windows: CPSC works from an average of 12 per detached single-family household, so a partial order leaves cords in the house.¹

Window cord questions, answered straight

How many children have died on window covering cords?

CPSC states its databases contain a total of 209 reported fatal and nonfatal strangulations on window coverings among children eight years and younger, from January 2009 through December 2021, and that nearly 48 percent of the reported incidents were fatal, 100 of 209.¹ The rule goes further on the survivors: sixteen required hospitalization, and six survived a hypoxic-ischemic episode or were pulseless and in full cardiac arrest when found, with severe neurological consequences.¹ One victim remained hospitalized for 72 days and was released with 75 percent permanent brain damage.¹

Why do I see two different injury numbers for this hazard?

Because the rule itself contains two, calculated on different scopes, and they should not be averaged or blended. One paragraph states that based on CPSC's Injury Cost Model, approximately 7.6 medically treated nonfatal injuries to children 8 years and younger occurred annually from 2009 through 2021, and a minimum of approximately 6.8 fatal strangulations related to operating cords per year among children under eight from 2009 to 2020.¹ Another states about 185 medically treated nonfatal injuries annually from 2009 through 2020 and a minimum of 8.1 fatal strangulations related to window covering cords per year among children under five.¹ Different cord scope, different age cut.

Is a cord cleat or tension device good enough?

CPSC says no, in the rule text. Safety devices such as cord cleats and tension devices are unlikely to be effective to eliminate or substantially reduce the hazard, because a cleat has to be attached to the wall and caregivers must wrap the cord around it each and every time the covering is raised or lowered.¹ The agency adds that incident data show children can still access and become entangled in cords by climbing on furniture.¹ A retrofit that depends on an adult repeating a step correctly every day is not a control.

Does the rule cover the blinds already hanging in my house?

The part establishes a standard for operating cords on custom window coverings with an effective date of May 30, 2023.¹ Nothing in the sources used here says it requires anyone to remove product already installed, and the installed base is enormous: approximately 145 million corded custom window coverings were in use in the United States in 2020.¹ Treat existing corded coverings in a child's room as the exposure, the same way a pre-2023 dresser sits outside the tip-over standard.⁴

What will cordless window coverings cost me?

There is no honest premium figure available. No source found publishes a corded versus cordless comparison at the same size and brand. What CPSC does publish is a baseline: the least expensive units for an average size window retail for less than $40, some run to several thousand dollars, and a household updating twelve metal or vinyl horizontal blinds spends a total of $448.32, roughly once every ten years.¹ Price your own windows against those figures rather than against an average.

Sources

Where these facts came from

Every figure on this page was read out of the page linked below. We do not cite cost aggregators.

Get quotes for your window blind cord safety project

Free for homeowners. No obligation. Up to four local pros compete.

Get matched now

Keep planning

More guides from the Kids Rooms hub.