Window Covering Manufacturers Association Releases Proposed Updates to Standard on Window-Covering Safety

Final updated standards to be delivered for approval in October

WASHINGTON, Sept. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Ralph Vasami, Executive Director of the Window Covering Manufacturers Association (WCMA), released the following statement today regarding the industry's proposed updates to the ANSI/WCMA standard on corded window-covering safety:

"Our industry is committed to engineering and manufacturing superior products that meet our customers' demands for performance, choice and safety. As part of this effort, we were pleased last year when consumer safety advocates including the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) joined our industry in conducting a comprehensive review of the safety standards for our products.

"To our great disappointment, at today's WCMA Standards Steering Committee Meeting some of those consumer safety advocates abandoned the review process. However, WCMA and its member companies remain committed to working with CPSC and others who share in our goal to update the safety standards. Already, great progress has been made.

"Our safety standards are already the most stringent in the world and the proposed updates go even further in minimizing potential risk. While the process is not yet completed, significant progress has been made thanks to the diligent work done by the participants in this process. Safety standard updates include substantially more robust performance requirements and testing standards; the development of new product warning labels and pictograms; and other more technical changes intended to greatly improve safety.

"We will continue to work with the CPSC and others to educate consumers about safe use of our products through ongoing efforts such as the Window Covering Safety Council's distribution of hundreds of thousands of free retrofit kits to make older window covering products safer.

"Our commitment to improving product safety is unwavering. While no standard can eliminate all possible risk, we are constantly reexamining our standards and our educational programs to ensure our products are on the leading edge of safety standards. We look forward to delivering a fully updated standard for approval in October."

About WCMA
Organized in the 1950s as the Venetian Blind Council, the Window Covering Manufacturers Association (WCMA) represents the interests of the window covering industry manufacturers, fabricators and assemblers. Industry products include blinds, shades, shutters, curtains, curtain rods, drapes, drapery hardware and other window treatments. Visit us on the web at www.wcmanet.org.

SOURCE Window Covering Manufacturers Association