1. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Case Study II – Window Blind Cords Mark Kumagai, P.E. Director, Division of Mechanical Engineering Directorate for Engineering Sciences February 2011 These comments are those of the CPSC staff and have not been reviewed or approved by, and may not necessarily reflect the views of, the Commission.

2. Window Blind Cords About 1 death per month –More than 300 fatalities since 1981 Product most frequently associated with strangulation of children under 5 years old Victims 10 months to 15 months old typically found in cribs Victims 2-4 years old found hanging from furniture or on floor

3. Window Blind Cords Strangulation Hazard: –Children can strangle in the free-standing loops –Children can wrap the cord around their necks and strangle –Children can pull out an exposed inner cord, wrap it around their necks, and strangle –Children can place their necks in the opening between the fabric and cord and strangle

4. Window Blind Cords Strangulation in looped cord or cord wrapped around neck – most common hazard scenarios Looped cord Cord wrapped around neck

5. Window Blind Cords Strangulation in the inner cord

6. Window Blind Cords Strangulation between the fabric and cord

7. Window Blind Cords

9. CASE STUDY – Prospective Design ~ 2005, Roman shades and roll-up blinds start to become popular Voluntary standard did not address these products In 2008, CPSC staff recommended that industry develop requirements – “… a foreseeable strangulation hazard” 1 1 4-23-08 meeting log, Window Covering Manufacturers Association Technical Committee meeting on window covering cords

10. Window Blind Cords Roman shades consist of a flexible fabric panel with rings attached to the back Free hanging cord on back side of shade poses strangulation hazard

11. Window Blind Cords Roll –up blinds consist of material (usually some type of fabric) wrapped around a roller Free hanging continuous cord or bead loop poses strangulation hazard

12. Window Blind Cords Inner cords of Roman shades Lifting loops of roll-up blinds Roman ShadeRoll-up Blind

13. Window Blind Cords Form review team Define users Define environments Define life cycle of product Identify failure modes Determine foreseeable use, misuse and abuse of product Identify potential hazards Review data Review standards – understand rationale Keep asking “What if…?”

14. Window Blind Cords Victim: child (10 months to 6 years) Environment: alone in bedroom or other room in home Life of product: 5+ years Foreseeable use: child playing with all exposed cords – unattended/unsupervised Hazard: strangulation Data: incidents on other blind styles Standards: ANSI/WCMA standard, ASTM toy standard (regarding pull force and head insertion force of a child) What if…?

15. 5 deaths and 16 near strangulations in Roman shades since 2006 3 deaths in roll-up blinds since 2001

16. Window Blind Cords Conclusions The strangulation hazard was foreseeable 6 children strangled in Roman shades since 2005 –23 near strangulations 3 children strangled in roll-up blinds since 2000 –3 near strangulations 25 million Roman shades and 27 million roll-up blinds have been recalled In 2010, new requirements added to voluntary standard * to reduce hazard associated with Roman shade inner cords * ANSI/WCMA Safety of Corded Window Covering Products