Do you live in military housing with your family?   Take a look at your window blinds or other type of window coverings, including Roman shades.  If you can see any dangling or accessible cords, your child is at risk.

Window coverings with exposed cords are one of the top hidden home hazards.  Kids can easily and quickly wrap the cords around their necks or become entangled in the cord loops.

In fact, one child strangles in window cords nearly every month and another child is hurt.  This can happen quickly and silently.  Sadly, some of the incidents occurred in military housing. We want to help you and your family to be safe and secure in your home.

So, on Military Consumer Protection Day (July 17 this year), examine your window blinds, curtains and shades closely. Look for exposed, looped cords. What you find may surprise you.  What you do about it can save your child’s life.

Here is how you can safeguard your windows.

• Use cordless blinds or go with blinds or shades that have inaccessible cords. Many stores have these products available for purchase right now.

• Move cribs, beds, and furniture away from windows, because children can climb on them and reach the cords on the window coverings.

• Make loose cords inaccessible, if you are unable to replace older blinds and shades.

In the past, many consumers have used free repair kits from the Window Covering Safety Council (WCSC) to fix their blinds that were made before November 2000.  Keep in mind that these kits do not get rid of the dangling pull cord hazard with many common window blinds.

Kids and cords are a dangerous combination. So, if you have young children in your house, your safest approach is to go cordless or buy blinds with inaccessible cords.

The safest place for your baby to sleep is in a bare crib that meets CPSC’s new federal safety standards.

 Blog en español

Remember the happiness you felt when you first held your baby? Was your next thought “Now what?” Keeping your baby safe was likely one concern. Do you know there are some simple steps that you can take to lessen your worry and create a safer home for you and your baby? Well, there are!

So, relax this Mother’s Day and give yourself the gift of safety. Here are a few safety steps and safety devices that can give you peace of mind and can help reduce the risk of injuries to babies and young children. Most steps are easy to remember; the devices are relatively inexpensive:

1. Bare is Best: Put your baby to sleep in a crib that doesn’t have quilts, comforters or pillows. Nearly half of the infant crib deaths and two-thirds of bassinet deaths reported to CPSC each year are suffocations caused by pillows, quilts and/or clutter in the baby’s sleeping space. Footed pajamas should be enough to keep your baby warm.

1. Safety Latches and Locks: These are a no-brainer to help prevent children from accessing medicines, toxic household cleaners (including single-load liquid laundry packets) and sharp objects.

1. Furniture Anchors: Before your baby gets mobile, crawl around your home and explore. Do you see a dresser, bookcase or other piece of furniture? That looks fun to climb, doesn’t it? Buy and install low-cost anchoring devices to prevent a tip-over tragedy.

1. Water Dangers: Any time your baby is near water, you should remain on high alert. It only takes a few inches of water and a short lapse in supervision for a child to drown. Stay focused on your baby constantly when your baby is in the bath. Do not rely on bath seats or siblings to assist with bath time. PoolSafely.gov also has many simple steps for parents to take in and around pools and spas, including using fences and alarms.

1. Small Batteries: Coin or button-sized batteries that power devices like remote controls, electronic games, toys, musical cards, and hearing aids can cause life-threatening chemical burns in the body in as little as two hours. Even dead batteries can cause serious injuries.  Battery compartments should be secured with a tight screw or strong tape if there’s no screw on the product. Put any item with an unsecured battery up and out of sight and reach of a child. Throw away used batteries in a way that children can’t get to them.

1. Corded Products: Cords such as those on window coverings and baby monitors have strangled children. Keep all cords out of a baby’s reach. Baby monitor cords should be at least 3 feet away from your child’s reach.  CPSC urges parents to use cordless blinds or window coverings that have inaccessible cords in homes with young children.

1. Working Alarms: You never know when you’ll need a working carbon monoxide or smoke alarm—until a disaster happens.  Working CO and smoke alarms should be placed on every floor of a home. Here’s a guide to more information on smoke alarms.

Editor’s Note: Babycenter has cross-posted this blog in English and in Spanish.

Community education programs work. That’s a message we at CPSC hear regularly through our Neighborhood Safety Network.

Last week, during Window Safety Week, Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel in Portland, Ore., touted that message while spreading the word on preventing window falls. “According to Oregon Trauma Registry data, the rate of children’s window falls has decreased 46 percent from 2009 to 2011,” the hospital says in a news release.

The Oregon hospital, along with Safe Kids Oregon and a mom whose child died in a window fall, formed the STOP at 4” campaign to raise awareness about window safety. The campaign’s slogan means that when you open windows, you should stop and lock the window at 4 inches to prevent children from falling from open windows. According to that campaign’s website, the campaign was launched by injury prevention specialists who were concerned by the large number of children in Oregon who fell from second-story windows in warm weather.

Window fall safety is a topic we’ve written about before. We have a fantastic video and a safety alert that you can post on your website and in your community or share in your social media channels to spread the message: Five minutes is all it takes to prevent your child from falling out of a window.  We encourage you to follow these simple steps:

• Install window guards and window stops to prevent children from falling out of windows.
• Don’t depend on screens to keep children from falling out. Screens keep bugs out; they won’t keep children in.
• Whenever possible, open windows from the top, NOT the bottom.
• Keep furniture away from windows to limit a child’s access.

We applaud local safety campaigns such as those in Portland, New York City and other cities and towns. Our Neighborhood Safety Network sends free safety materials including posters, videos, pamphlets and alerts to subscribers around the country to help spread safety in local communities.

Do you want to help address a consumer product-related safety need in your community?  Let our Neighborhood Safety Network team know at nsn@cpsc.gov.

Two women are reported to have died from carbon monoxide poisoning recently in Chicago, according to the Chicago Tribune.  The newspaper reports that a faulty boiler is suspected. Elsewhere, in Oxford, Conn., a man reportedly died due to high levels of carbon monoxide (CO) found in a home where he was housesitting. The dogs in the house died, too. (Connecticut Post, 1/30/13).

These reported deaths are just two of the regular, tragic reminders we see that carbon monoxide is a killer. In fact, CO is called the “invisible killer,” because you can’t see, smell or taste it. Don’t let this happen to you.

The best way to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning in your home is to:

• Have fuel-burning home heating appliances – your furnace, chimney, water heater, etc. – checked by a professional every year to make sure they are working properly.

• Install carbon monoxide alarms on every level of your home and outside bedroom areas.

• If you use a generator when the power goes out, keep it outside, far from windows and doors. Do NOT use a generator in your garage.

Carbon-monoxide deaths are more common than you might think. According to a new CPSC report:

• There were an average of 169 unintentional, non-fire CO poisoning deaths each year between 2007 and 2009.

• 1/3 of the deaths were associated with carbon monoxide from heating systems, such as furnaces.

• More than 40% of carbon-monoxide deaths are from using generators, such as operating them in a garage or basement, which is extremely dangerous.

• Most CO deaths occur in the colder months of the year: November, December, January and February.

In addition to carbon monoxide risks, space heaters also need to be handled with extra care to prevent unintentional fires. Space heaters are associated with an average of 100 deaths each year between 2008 and 2010.

Just last week, local fire officials reportedly blamed space heaters for fires at homes in Portsmouth, Va. (via Fox 43-TV) and Bristol Township, Pa. (via PhillyBurbs.com).

• When you use a space heater, follow these safety tips:

• Turn the space heater off when you go to sleep or leave the room.

• Keep the space heater at least three feet away from anything that can burn, including curtains and furniture.

Have working smoke alarms on every level of your home, outside bedroom areas and inside each bedroom.

Look for additional life-saving information in CPSC’s Carbon Monoxide Information Center.

That’s 2,310 deaths on average each year.

Take a Good, Better, Best approach to fire safety in your home. Fires can happen anytime, so be ready!

GOOD:

• Install a working smoke alarm in your home. Consumers who have working smoke alarms in their homes die in fires at about half the rate of those who do not.
• Change the batteries every year.
• Replace the smoke alarms every 10 years. After all, smoke alarms don’t last forever.

BETTER:

• Multiple working smoke alarms are better than one. Install alarms on every level of your house, inside each bedroom and outside sleeping areas.
• Interconnect your smoke alarms. That way, if one smoke alarm detects a fire, all smoke alarms will sound.
• Consider installing smoke alarms that use 10-year sealed batteries. They don’t require annual battery changes.

BEST:

• Install two types of working smoke alarms in your home: ionization and photoelectric alarms.  Smoke alarms use one or both of these methods, sometimes with a heat detector, to warn you about a fire. The safety standard for smoke alarms has been improved and should result in improvements to how both types of alarms perform. Ionization alarms respond quickly to flaming fires and photoelectric detectors respond sooner to smoldering fires. Make sure all alarms are interconnected.
• Have a fire escape plan and practice it. A smoke alarm can’t save your family’s lives if everyone doesn’t know what to do when it sounds. Have two ways to get out of each room and set a pre-arranged meeting place outside. And remember, once you are out of the house, stay out.

In 2008 — the latest year for which we have complete data — there were about 190 unintentional non-fire CO-poisoning deaths associated with consumer products under our jurisdiction. The product associated with most of these deaths? Portable generators.

As more people use portable generators, the numbers of CO-related deaths have increased.  In 1999 there were seven generator-related CO deaths. In 2008 the number of deaths reached 86. That’s an increase of more than 1,000 percent.

Carbon monoxide is an invisible killer that strikes within minutes. You can protect yourself with a few simple safety rules:

• Install working CO alarms in your home. Make sure the alarm is battery-operated or has a battery-backup so it works during a power outage.
• Keep all generators outside of your home, away from doors and windows.
• Never use a generator in a garage, basement, crawl space, shed or on a porch.

Most CO-related deaths happen from November through February — the cold months. This makes sense, of course. In colder months, we use our furnaces and fuel-burning space heaters. When we lose power during storms, more and more of you power up your portable generators.

CO deaths also occur when charcoal is used indoors. Just like generators, keep burning charcoal outside, away from the house.

Let’s see if we can work together to drop the number of carbon monoxide-related deaths.

Blog en español

See the ladder. See the man falling off the ladder.

This is NOT the way to start the holidays. (Obvious? Yes.) Yet, every year, hundreds of people fall from ladders while hanging decorations.

In November and December 2010, more than 13,000 people were treated in emergency rooms nationwide from injuries related to holiday decorations. That’s the largest number of injuries in 8 years.

So, while you might think that you already know how to use a ladder safely, now’s a good time to review ladder do’s and don’ts.

• Always select the correct ladder for the job.  That’s one that extends at least 3 feet over the roofline or working surface.
• Always place your ladder on level and firm ground. Use leg levelers under the ladder to level uneven or soft ground. Leg levelers are devices that you can buy at a hardware or home improvement store.
• Make sure the ladder can support both your weight and the load you are putting on it by checking the ladder’s maximum load rating.
• Make sure your straight and adjustable ladders have both slip-resistant feet.
• Set up straight, single or extension ladders at about a 75–degree angle. To test if you have the correct angle, stand up straight with your toes touching the feet of the ladder as it leans away from you. Extend your arms in front of you. Your palms should touch the top of the rung that’s at shoulder level.
• Don’t use a metal ladder near power lines or electrical equipment. Stick with wood or fiberglass ladders in these situations and use extra caution. And no ladder should ever touch a live electric wire.
• Check all rung locks and spreader braces on your ladder to make sure they are set.
• Have a helper hold the bottom of the ladder.
• Keep ladders away from a door that can be opened.
• Only allow one person on a ladder at a time.
• Center your body between the rails of the ladder at all times. Leaning too far to one side while working is a no-no and can cause you to fall. If you were to have a belt on, the buckle should never be outside of the right or left rail of the ladder.
•  Do not stand on the top three rungs of a straight, single or extension ladder.
• Stay off of the ladder’s top step and bucket shelf. Labels on ladders warn you not to stand on them as well. Don’t try to climb or stand on the rear section of a stepladder.
• Only use a ladder for its intended purpose. And follow the ladder’s instruction labels.
• When you’re done with the ladder, put it away immediately. Never leave a raised ladder unattended.

This week, CPSC joins the National Safety Council in recognizing National Window Safety Week and urges parents and caregivers to be aware of the dangers of leaving windows open when young children are present.

According to CPSC data, falls from windows result in an average of about eight deaths yearly to children five years or younger, while an estimated 3,300 children ages five and younger are treated each year in U.S. hospital emergency departments. On average, one of every three children, about 34 percent, required hospitalization after falling from a window.

So, watch this video. And take five minutes to prevent a window fall in your home.

In addition, there has been an increasing trend in unintentional non-fire CO deaths associated with consumer products since 1999. CPSC staff estimates that there were 184 CO poisoning deaths on average per year from from 2005-2007 compared with 122 deaths per year from 1999-2001. Since 1999, the majority of CO deaths have been associated with heating systems and portable generators.

CPSC, along with USFA, recommend that, in addition to having working smoke and CO alarms in your homes, you should follow these safety tips to prevent fires and CO poisoning:

Preventing Fires

• Place space heaters on a floor that is flat and level. Do not put space heaters on rugs or carpets. Keep the heater at least three feet from bedding, drapes, furniture, and other flammable materials; and place space heaters out of the flow of foot traffic. Keep children and pets away from space heaters.
• To prevent the risk of fire, NEVER leave a space heater on when you go to sleep or place a space heater close to any sleeping person. Turn the heater off when you leave the area. See CPSC’s electric space heater safety alert for more space heater safety tips.
• Never use gasoline in a kerosene space heater. Even small amounts of gasoline mixed with kerosene can increase the risk of a fire.
• Have fireplace flues and chimneys inspected for leakage and blockage from creosote or debris every year.
• Open the fireplace damper before lighting a fire, and keep it open until the ashes are cool. An open damper may help prevent build-up of poisonous gases inside the home.
• Store fireplace ashes in a fire-resistant container, and cover the container with a lid. Keep the container outdoors and away from combustibles. Dispose of ashes carefully, keeping them away from dry leaves, trash or other combustible materials.

Preventing CO poisoning

• Schedule a yearly professional inspection of all fuel-burning home heating systems, including furnaces, boilers, fireplaces, wood stoves, water heaters, chimneys, flues and vents.
• NEVER operate a portable gasoline-powered generator in an enclosed space, such as a garage, shed, or crawlspace, or in the home.
• Keep portable generators as far away from your home and your neighbors’ homes as possible – away from open doors, windows or vents that could allow deadly carbon monoxide into the home.
• When purchasing a space heater, ask the salesperson whether the heater has been safety-certified. A certified heater will have a safety certification mark. These heaters will have the most up-to-date safety features. An unvented gas space heater that meets current safety standards will shut off if oxygen levels fall too low.
• Do not use portable propane space heaters indoors or in any confined space, unless they are designed specifically for indoor use. Always follow the manufacturer’s directions for proper use.
• Never use gas or electric stoves to heat the home. They are not intended for that purpose and can pose a CO or fire hazard.

simulation of a window cord hazard

Sadly, a young child is likely to die this month, strangled by a window covering cord. The question is: Could that corded window covering be in your house?

The stories we’re about to tell you are tragic, and they are all too real. Both incidents happened earlier this year. Read the stories below, and then look at EVERY window covering in your house. If you have young children around and you see accessible cords ANYWHERE on your window coverings, take heed.

CPSC recommends that you use cordless window coverings in all homes where children live or visit. Cordless window coverings are the safest solution.

If buying new, cordless window coverings is not an option for you, contact the Window Covering Safety Council at www.windowcoverings.org to obtain a free repair kit and install it properly to make your window coverings safer. Some, but not all, of the repair kits will make your window coverings cordless. After you install a repair kit, check your window coverings again for accessible cords.

A little boy and a Roman shade

Four years ago, a mom and dad installed corded Roman shades in their first son’s bedroom. Over time, the family grew, with the first son becoming the oldest of four children. The youngest children included a 22-month-old boy and a newborn baby girl.

A 22-month-old boy strangled on this tangled outer cord.

Mom and dad regularly tried to tie the hanging window covering cords up so that they did not hang down, using a bracket that had been provided for each shade.

One day, the 22-month-old was playing in his older brother’s room. Dad left him playing for about 10 minutes. When Dad returned, he found his little boy standing with both feet on the ground and the Roman shade cord hanging around his neck. The cord was tangled at the end and created a noose around the boy’s neck. Ten days later, the boy died in a hospital. His cause of death: accidental strangulation.

She liked to look out her window at the kids at a nearby child care center

A nearly 4-year-old girl spent her morning playing and watching a movie in her bedroom. The girl liked to look out her window at children arriving and departing from a nearby child care center. This is what her mother thinks she was trying to do on her last morning alive.

The girl’s mother was making lunch around noon. Between 5 and 15 minutes after the girl was last seen, her 6-year-old brother went up to the bedroom that the two shared. He found his sister hanging from the horizontal window blind’s operating cords. The girl’s father didn’t have an easy way to get the cords off his daughter’s neck. While holding her, the dad chewed the cords free. The girl was pronounced dead upon her arrival at the hospital.

In the past year, CPSC has announced the voluntary recall of more than 50 million Roman shades and roll-up blinds made and sold by many different companies. In addition, in 1994 and in 2000, CPSC and the Window Covering Safety Council announced recalls to repair horizontal blinds to prevent strangulation hazards posed by pull cord and inner cord loops.

CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum is urging the window covering manufacturers to stay on track in creating a comprehensive set of safety standards next year. The chairman has called for these standards to design out the risk of strangulation in their products.

Still, it’s imperative that each and every one of us make the window coverings in our homes safe for our families. Here’s how:

• Examine all shades and blinds in your home. Make sure there are no accessible cords on the front, side, or back of the product. CPSC recommends the use of cordless window coverings in all homes where children live or visit.
• Do not place cribs, beds, and furniture close to the windows because children can climb on them and gain access to the cords.
• Make loose cords inaccessible.
• If the window covering has looped bead chains or nylon cords, install tension devices to keep the cord taut.

CPSC staff extends our condolences to the families, friends, and communities affected by the fire.

Sadly, this tragedy is also a reminder to anyone who uses space heaters to keep the following safety dos and don’ts in mind:

Do’s:

• Use a space heater that has been tested to the latest safety standards and has been certified by a nationally recognized testing laboratory. These heaters have the most up-to-date safety features. Older space heaters may not meet newer safety standards. Always follow the manufacturer’s directions for proper use.
• Place the heater on a level, hard, nonflammable surface, such as a ceramic tile floor.
• Keep the heater at least three feet away from bedding, drapes, furniture, and other flammable materials.
• Keep children and pets away from space heaters.
• Turn the heater off if you leave the area.

Don’ts:

• Never leave a space heater on when you go to sleep.
• Don’t place a space heater close to any sleeping person.
• Never use gasoline in a kerosene space heater, as even small amounts of gasoline mixed with kerosene can increase the risk of fire.
• Don’t use portable propane space heaters indoors or in any confined space unless they are specifically designed for indoor use.

Also, be sure to place smoke alarms on every level of your home, outside of sleeping areas and inside each bedroom. Guard against carbon monoxide (CO) poisonings as well by installing carbon monoxide alarms in your home. Make sure that your batteries in all alarms are fresh and working.

Window falls are common, particularly in spring and summer. And they are preventable. Just take a look at these news reports from the first few days of April:

•

Pennsylvania boy, age 3, falls from a window and sustains head injuries.

•

Oklahoma 5-year-old falls from second-story window. His condition is unknown.

•

5-year-old Omaha girl survives 2-story fall with only bumps and bruises

•

Grand Rapids boy, age 2, survives fall from 2nd story window with minor injuries.

This week, by the way, is the National Safety Council’s National Window Safety week. But a week of such reports is not unusual. On average each year, 9 children die and about 3,700 are injured from window falls.

CPSC recommends the following ways to child-proof your windows and prevent your children from having a serious fall:

Window guards screw into the side of a window frame and have bars no more than 4 inches apart.

• Install window guards to prevent children from falling out of windows. For windows on the 6th floor and below, install window guards that adults and older children can open easily in case of a fire.

Window guards screw into the side of a window frame and have bars no more than 4 inches apart. They are sold in different sizes for various size windows and adjust for width. Guards must meet requirements for spacing and strength. Those that allow for escape in case of emergencies must be difficult for very young children to open.

• If you don’t use window guards, install and use window stops so that windows open no more than 4 inches. Whether opening windows from the bottom, top, or side, openings should never exceed 4 inches with children present.

• Move furniture, including cribs and beds, away from windows to discourage children from climbing near windows. Use extra caution on windows next to window seats where children may climb and play.

• Bug screens are NOT baby gates. They keep bugs out, but they are not strong enough to keep toddlers in. Do not rely on them to keep your windows child-safe.

• Whenever possible, open windows from the top, not the bottom.

So stored-away space heaters emerge in our efforts to stay warm. We at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (C.P.S.C.) want to remind you about a few winter safety tips. From 2003 through 2005, there was an annual average of 57,300 fires and 270 fire deaths associated with portable heaters, central heating systems and fireplaces and chimneys.

To use your space heater properly, there are several do’s and don’ts:

Do:

• Use a space heater that has been tested to the latest safety standards and has been certified by a nationally recognized testing laboratory. These heaters have the most up-to-date safety features. Older space heaters may not meet newer safety standards. Always follow the manufacturer’s directions for proper use.
• Place the heater on a level, hard nonflammable surface such as a ceramic tile floor.
• Keep the heater at least three feet away from bedding, drapes, furniture and other flammable materials.
• Keep children and pets away from space heaters.
• Turn the heater off if you leave the area.

Don’t:

• Never leave a space heater on when you go to sleep.
• Don’t place a space heater close to any sleeping person.
• Never use gasoline in a kerosene space heater, as even small amounts of gasoline mixed with kerosene can increase the risk of fire.
• Don’t use portable propane space heaters indoors or in any confined space unless they are specifically designed for indoor use.

Also, be sure to guard against carbon monoxide poisonings by installing carbon monoxide alarms in your home. Make sure that your CO alarm batteries are fresh and working.

(Read the transcript or watch in Windows Media format)

Are your window coverings safe? Today, CPSC is announcing the recall of ALL (over 50 million) Roman shades and roll-up blinds by the Window Covering Safety Council and other companies. All of these products have a similar deadly hazard, young children can strangle when their neck gets trapped in exposed cords. For a complete list of the recalls and to obtain a free repair kit, please visit our web site at http://www.cpsc.gov. Repair kits can make your window coverings safer.

About once a month a young child dies in this country from a window cord strangulation. CPSC continues to urge parents to examine all window coverings in their homes. Make sure there are no accessible cords on the front, side, or back of the product. CPSC recommends the use of cordless window coverings in all homes where children live or visit. Watch the video, download our new Safety Alert , and let’s prevent these tragedies.

(Read the transcript or watch in Windows Media format)

Are your window coverings safe?  Over the weekend, a young child from Damascus, Maryland tragically strangled in a window covering. About once a month a child dies from a window cord strangulation. In recent years, CPSC has recalled more than 5  million window coverings.

Today, we are urging parents to examine all window coverings in their homes. Make sure there are no accessible cords on the front, side, or back of the product. CPSC recommends the use of cordless window coverings in all homes where children live or visit. Watch the video, download our new Safety Alert, and let’s prevent these tragedies.