Window Covering Safety Council Educates Military Parents about Hidden Window Cord Hazards

WASHINGTON, Nov. 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Window Covering Safety Council (WCSC) encourages parents and caregivers to replace their window coverings that may have exposed or dangling cords, which can pose a strangulation hazard to infants and young children, with blinds and shades that are cordless or have inaccessible cords. WCSC is working with Scholastic Inc. to help get this important safety message to parents and guardians, especially to those who serve in the military.  

In the coming weeks, WCSC and Scholastic will send window covering safety materials to pediatricians practicing close to military installations throughout the country and to encourage doctors to convey this important information to their patients and families.  For the pilot program, Scholastic will distribute 2,000 mini-posters and other materials via direct-mail to designated pediatricians' offices.

"We are excited about our partnership with Scholastic because it offers an opportunity to reach parents serving in the military with an important message about replacing the window coverings in their homes that have exposed or dangling cords," explained WCSC Executive Director, Peter Rush.  "Military housing and rental facilities near military bases can have corded window coverings and/or older window coverings that are not well suited for homes with young children.  We want military parents to be aware that they should replace these window coverings with cordless options or with window coverings with inaccessible cords."

Rush also sent a letter to Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations and Environment, John Conger about this new campaign and to encourage the Department of Defense to continue to educate military families about the risk of strangulation to young children from exposed window covering cords. 

In his letter to U.S. Department of Defense, Rush also encouraged Conger to continue to work with the Defense Department's Housing Partners to replace older window coverings with models that meet today's voluntary safety standard, and to ensure that housing used by families with young children have cordless window coverings or window coverings with inaccessible cords.

"Soon, it will be easier for all parents with young children to identify products that are best suited for use in homes with infants and young children because of the recently launched Best for Kids certification program," wrote Rush.

The Best for Kids program is the window covering industry's first third-party certification program designed to help consumers and retailers identify window covering products that are certified as best suited for use in homes with young children.  For a product to be eligible for this certification program, manufacturers must meet specified program criteria and submit their window covering products to a designated third-party testing laboratory.  Once a product passes the third-party testing, the manufacturer will be allowed to label the product with the Best for Kids certification label.  There are many products with no cords or inaccessible cords that are available in different styles, colors, and sizes that will soon be easily identified with the Best for Kids label.

A copy of the WCSC-Scholastic materials that will be provided to pediatricians' offices can be found here.

The letter from Peter Rush to U.S. Department of Defense can be found here.

The Window Covering Safety Council (WCSC) is a coalition of major U.S. manufacturers, importers and retailers of window coverings dedicated to educating consumers about window cords safety. The Council also assists and supports its members in the industry's ongoing efforts to encourage the use of cordless products in homes with young children, its redesign of corded products and to support the national ANSI/WCMA standard for corded window coverings. WCSC's activities in no way constitute an assumption of any legal duty owed by its members or any other entity.

Media Contact:
Alana Sorrentino
212-297-2146
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SOURCE Window Covering Safety Council