Keep Moving Day Safe

Protect young children on that busy, hectic day

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Apr 16, 2013, 10:28 ET

NEW YORK, April 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- As April and spring start, more and more families throughout the country will continue to move in higher numbers from now through the summer, according to the American Moving & Storage Association. During this often hectic time, it is important for families to not forget about safety in all the hustle and bustle of a move.

The Window Covering Safety Council (WCSC) wants to remind parents that children are especially vulnerable during a move and is offering life saving tips to keep children safe. When moving into a new or pre-owned home there can be new or existing dangers, and preoccupied parents need to be especially vigilant with small children. For example,

Loose bottle caps of medications and household chemicals.
Furniture and boxes stacked high around the home.
Windows without screen guards.
Window coverings and drapes with hanging cords.

Window covering cords can pose a strangulation hazard to infants and toddlers. WCSC urges parents and caregivers to check their window coverings to make sure there are no dangling cords, and if there are to replace them with today's safer products or order retrofits kits.

To protect children from the potential hazards that often arise during a move and the few days following, parents are reminded to:

Keep children offsite and with family or a babysitter during the actual move day.
Do not leave furniture, boxes, beds and climbable surfaces by windows and stairs, or left perilously stacked.
Check all window coverings to see if they have dangerous cords.
Make sure tasseled pull cords are as short as possible. Continuous-loop pull cords on draperies and vertical blinds should be pulled tight and anchored to the floor or wall.
Be sure cord stops are properly installed and adjusted to limit inner-cord movement.
Install window guards to prevent children from falling and accidents.

To learn more about window covering safety, visit the WCSC's website at www.windowcoverings.org. Free retrofit kits for older corded window coverings can be ordered on the website or by phoning the WCSC's toll-free number at 1-800-506-4636.

The Window Covering Safety Council (WCSC) is a coalition of major U.S. manufacturers, importers and retailers of window coverings. The Council 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 the safety of corded window coverings. WCSC's activities in no way constitute an assumption of any legal duty owed by its members or any other entity. Consumers wishing to retrofit rather than replace their older window coverings can order free retrofit devices through WCSC's website at www.windowcoverings.org or its toll-free phone line at 1-800-506-4636.

Contact: Dan Fernandez
212-297-2121
[email protected]

SOURCE Window Covering Safety Council