This is the one guide on this site where the advice isn’t a trade-off. Looped blind cords and chains can and do kill young children — quickly and silently, most often toddlers, most often in the bedroom. RoSPA records nine children dying from blind cord strangulation between April 2019 and March 2022. The fixes are cheap, legally required on new blinds, and worth doing on old ones today.

What UK rules actually say

Since 2014, blind safety in the UK has been governed by BS EN 13120 (made mandatory through product safety law). In practice:

  • New corded blinds must ship with safety devices — chain/cord tensioners, cleats or breakaway connectors — and with warnings and instructions.
  • Safe by design or safe by installation. Blinds must either have no accessible cord loop (cordless, wand-operated, motorised) or be installed with the loop held taut by a device fixed to the wall.
  • Professional fitters must fit the devices. A fitter who leaves the tensioner in the box has not completed a legal installation — it’s a fair test question when choosing a fitter.
  • There are also maximum cord lengths and minimum heights for operating cords, which is why new blinds sometimes arrive with shorter chains than you expected. That’s compliance, not a defect.

The rules cover blinds supplied and installed since 2014, not the ones already on your walls. RoSPA and the government’s Office for Product Safety and Standards both point to the millions of older blinds still in homes without these devices — which is why the audit at the end of this guide matters.

If you’re DIY fitting: the same devices are in your box, and the fitting walkthrough treats fixing the tensioner as part of the job, because it is. Taut means taut — a slack chain with a tensioner dangling on it recreates the loop.

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Safest choices for children’s rooms

Best: no cord at all.

  • Cordless/spring rollers — pull the bottom bar to operate
  • Wand-tilt venetians — a rigid wand replaces cords and chains
  • Motorised blinds — remote or app operated; the premium option (electric and smart blinds)
  • Perfect Fit-style frame blinds — enclosed, no free-hanging anything, and no drilling on uPVC

Most made-to-measure retailers let you filter for cordless or “child-safe” operation — do that first, then choose fabric.

If a corded blind is already there: fit the tensioner or cleat properly (taut, screwed to wall or frame — and a cleat at least 1.5 m from the floor, the height both RoSPA and the government campaign give), shorten excess cord, and use breakaway connectors on looped cords. Retro-fit safety kits cost pocket money.

And regardless of blind: keep cots, beds and anything climbable away from the window. Most incidents involve a child reaching a loop from furniture.

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Beyond the cord: what else matters in kids’ rooms

  • Blackout helps sleep — a blackout roller or blackout-lined roman fitted outside the recess darkens best; cordless blackout rollers give you safety and sleep in one product.
  • Robustness beats elegance. Wipeable fabrics and simple mechanisms survive children; delicate romans and real-wood slats mostly don’t.
  • Rental? Perfect Fit-style and tension-fit blinds deliver child-safe, no-drill window covering without a landlord conversation about holes — see the no-drill blinds guide.

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The two-minute audit for your whole home

Walk every room: any cord or chain a child could reach that isn’t held taut by a fixed device fails. Fix or retrofit those this week. When you next buy, buy cordless — the price difference has collapsed in recent years, and it removes the hazard rather than managing it.

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Sources

We’ve linked the organisations behind the advice above so you can check it yourself (all checked October 2026):

  • RoSPA: blind cord safety — the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents’ advice for parents, including the 1.5 m cleat height, cordless blinds and moving cots away from windows, and the death figures quoted above.
  • GOV.UK: blind cord safety campaign — the Office for Product Safety and Standards campaign (February 2021): fit a tidy, tensioner or cleat, keep cleats at least 1.5 m up, and move furniture away from windows.
  • Make it Safe — the British Blind and Shutter Association’s safety campaign for householders and landlords.

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Frequently asked questions

What does UK law require for blind cords?

Since 2014, blinds supplied and professionally installed in the UK must meet BS EN 13120 child-safety requirements: corded blinds must come with safety devices (tensioners, cleats or breakaway connectors), and blinds must be safe by design or safe by installation. Professional fitters are obliged to install the devices, not just leave them in the box.

Are existing older blinds legal?

The regulations apply to supply and installation, not retroactively to blinds already in homes — but the hazard doesn't care about the date. Retro-fit kits (cleats, tensioners, breakaway connectors) are cheap, and safety organisations recommend fitting them to every older corded blind, especially anywhere children sleep or play.

What's the safest blind for a nursery?

A cordless blind — wand-operated, spring-operated or motorised — fitted with nothing dangling, and the cot placed away from the window. Blackout capability is a bonus for sleep; the safety spec comes first.

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A free tool to use with this guide