Steps to a Safer Home From Hunter Douglas

UPPER SADDLE RIVER, N.J., Sept. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Safety is a concern for everyone, especially parents.  An important part of raising children is careful supervision of their activities in the home.  Parents need to be aware of their children's surroundings at all times in order to anticipate and prevent potential injury.  One of the most overlooked areas in the home is the window.  Whether open or closed, windows are a potential hazard to the safety and well-being of toddlers and young children.  

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the Window Covering Safety Council (WCSC) and independent retailers joined forces to designate October as National Window Covering Safety Month to raise awareness of the dangers posed by window covering cords.  CPSC data shows that since 1996, there have been reports of 147 children having died as a result of accidental strangulation from window covering cords.  

"We have always been a strong believer in educating consumers about child safety, especially the potential dangers of window covering cords," said Joe Jankoski, Vice President of Merchandising for Hunter Douglas, President of the Window Covering Manufacturers Association as well as a member of the Board and Past Trustee of the WCSC.  

"Hunter Douglas has consistently been at the forefront of the industry with regard to innovating alternative lifting systems that enhance the safety of our window coverings as well as building consumer awareness of window covering safety."

Timed to coordinate with Window Covering Safety Month and designed to build greater consumer awareness of this important topic, Hunter Douglas organizes an annual promotion around child safety. Between September 25 and December 15, 2010, participating Hunter Douglas Gallery Dealers® will be offering free upgrades to the Hunter Douglas LiteRise® cordless system on select products with no minimum or maximum purchases required.  

One of many Hunter Douglas innovations, the LiteRise system raises and lowers window fashions with a gentle touch on the bottom rail. It helps reduce potential safety hazards, while also offering a more streamlined appearance. It is available on Hunter Douglas honeycomb shades, Modern Roman Shades, pleated shades and wood, alternative wood and aluminum blinds.

In addition to the LiteRise system, the other alternative lifting systems the window fashions leader has developed to help prevent injuries from window covering operating cords include:

• PowerRise® 2.0 with Platinum™ Technology, a battery-powered remote control system that operates window fashions at the touch of a button and also completely eliminates lift cords. It is offered on a wide range of Hunter Douglas products.  PowerGlide® with Platinum™ Technology is a battery powered remote control system that both traverses the sheers and rotates the vanes on Luminette® Privacy Sheers and Modern Draperies and Skyline® Gliding Window Panels. As part of the fall promotion, Hunter Douglas dealers are also offering a $50 per unit rebate on any Hunter Douglas product with PowerRise or PowerGlide.    
• The UltraGlide® system, a single, retractable cord that maintains a constant length, whether the shade is raised or lowered. This significantly reduces access to the lift cord and offers smooth, reliable operation.  It is an option on honeycomb shades, window shadings and Modern Roman Shades.  
• Hunter Douglas roller shades also have the option of a spring-like clutch lifting system in place of a traditional operating cord where shades can be raised and lowered with a gentle pull on the bottom bar or decorative pull.
• A variety of Hunter Douglas vertically oriented products work with a wand option that allows all functions to be controlled by a single wand without the need for operating cords.  
• For window fashions with continuous cord loops, Hunter Douglas offers a Cord Tensioner that keeps the cords taut under spring tension so that children cannot become easily entangled.
• And, all Hunter Douglas Custom Shutters are cordless by design, eliminating the potential safety hazard caused by window covering cords.

Also on the safety front, Vignette® Modern Roman Shades were the first shades to have no exposed back cords for enhanced child safety and a smooth, uniform appearance from both inside and outside of the home.  They were specifically designed to be that way.  Vignette shades with the Tiered stackable design option and the LiteRise lifting system won a Silver in the very prestigious 2010 International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) and were also honored in the National Parenting Publications Awards.  

Additional information can be found in the Hunter Douglas Child Safety for Your Home brochure, which is available at Hunter Douglas dealers, by calling Hunter Douglas at 1-800-274-2985 or by visiting www.hunterdouglas.com.

Hunter Douglas, Inc. is a national sponsor of Habitat for Humanity, covering windows in every Habitat home built in the U.S. and Canada.  Headquartered in Upper Saddle River N.J., the company is the leading manufacturer of custom window coverings in North America.  

SOURCE Hunter Douglas, Inc.