All our blinds are made to the BS EN13120 Child Safety standards. Guidance from the Department of Business, Innovation & Skills advises that window blinds in all homes and public buildings should adhere to the standards as it is impossible to say that a home or public building is 100% unlikely to have a young child present at some point.
The standards require the following:
• Safety devices for preventing any cords or chains from creating a hazardous loop
• The testing of all safety critical systems of internal blinds
• The testing of blinds using safety systems
• The fitting of safety devices on cords or chains at the point of manufacture
• Limitation on chain lengths
• Warnings and instructions
Installation Height
Under the Child Safety Standard, installation height is used to calculate the maximum permitted chain lengths. It is defined as the distance from the top of the blind to the floor when fitted. If know, this should be entered when placing an order.
Chain Lengths
The maximum length of control chains depends on the following:
• whether the installation height is known or unknown
• the child safety components used for each type of blind
If the maximum chain length is longer than the blind, the chain will be finished to the same drop as the blind. Where white continuous chains are used, these are supplied in pre-set loops in 25cm increments. In this case the chain length will be rounded down to the next shorter size.
Manufacturer’s Labels & Warning Labels
All blinds will be supplied with our manufacturer’s identification labels on the headrail and child safety warning labels attached to all control chains and to the chain tidy where relevant. A warning label will also be attached to the box.
Installation
To ensure blinds are installed correctly, all chain tidy devices (P-clips) must be used and fitted at least 150cm from the floor. If specifying the breakaway roman headrail, the chain must be at least 60cm from the floor. If no installation height was provided and the blind is being professionally installed the fitter must adjust the chain & safety devices so that when fitted it follows the known installation height rule.
Further details can be found on the Make it Safe website here www.makeitsafe.org.uk