Child Safety Regulations for Blinds and Curtains in the UK

Since 2014, UK and European safety standards (BS EN 13120 for internal blinds) have required that blinds and curtain tracks sold in the UK are designed to reduce the risk of child strangulation from looped cords and chains. If you have young children, or grandchildren who visit, it’s worth understanding what the rules actually cover — and what to check for in your own home.

What the regulations require

In short, any operating cords, chains, or looped cords must either be permanently out of a child’s reach, or fitted with a safety device that breaks the loop under load, so a child cannot become caught in it. This applies to roller blinds, Roman blinds, vertical blinds, and corded curtain tracks alike.

The safety devices you’ll actually see

• Cleats: a small hook fixed to the wall or window frame that the cord is wound around and secured to, keeping it off the floor and away from small hands.
• Breakaway (chain-safe) devices: a connector in the chain or cord loop that separates under a small amount of force, so the loop can’t tighten around anything caught in it.
• Tension devices: a small fitting that holds the cord taut against the wall at a fixed point, removing the loop entirely during normal use.
• Cordless and wand-operated systems: increasingly common on made-to-measure Roman blinds and roller blinds, removing the cord risk altogether.

What we do as standard

Every blind we supply is fitted with an appropriate child-safety device as standard, in line with UK regulations — you don’t need to request it separately. For homes with young children, we’re also happy to talk through fully cordless options, including chain-operated systems with a breakaway connector, wand control, or motorised blinds and curtains that remove trailing cords entirely.

Checking existing blinds in your home

If you’ve moved into a property with blinds already fitted, or have older blinds from before 2014, it’s worth checking whether a cleat, tension device, or breakaway connector is fitted and actually in use — a cleat left unused on the wall doesn’t help anyone. Retrofit cleats and tension devices are inexpensive and straightforward to add to almost any existing blind, and we’re happy to advise or fit them even on products we didn’t originally supply.

Cots, beds and furniture placement

Beyond the blind itself, the Child Accident Prevention Trust recommends keeping cots, beds, playpens and furniture a safe distance from any window with a corded blind or curtain track, since even a compliant cord can pose a climbing or entanglement risk if a child can reach it by standing on furniture nearby. See our guide to nursery and kids’ room window dressings for how we’d put all of this into practice in a child’s room.