Vertical blind company fined after child’s tragic death
Sunstone Holdings Pty Ltd t/as Sunstone Design
Issue Date: - Wednesday, 29 October 2008
A Perth magistrate described the actions of the director of a Karratha blind company as grossly negligent and fined him and his company a total of $8800 for serious breaches of a product safety order designed to protect young children from strangulation.
In August 2005, Sunstone Design director Peter O’Neil Heron Duddy supplied and installed blinds at a residence in Wickham, WA, where a 34-month-old girl and her parents lived.
Little more than 12 months later, the girl died from strangulation after becoming entangled in an exposed looped blind cord in her bedroom.
A mandatory safety standard order for internal window coverings operated by a looped cord came into effect on 5 April 2004.
The order requires all looped cords must remain more than 1.6m from the base of a curtain, blind or shade in its fully lowered position. If dangling lower, cords must be fitted with an appropriate safety mechanism such as a tension device so that the cord remains fixed and immobile, therefore less accessible to young children.
It also requires warning labels to be placed at the base of window coverings and warning hang tags on the product.
Following the death of the child, Consumer Protection investigated the matter and found the blind cords supplied by Sunstone had become loose. The tension device holding the cord had been affixed to a wall using double-sided tape instead of screws.
Magistrate Tanya Watt said during yesterday’s sentencing at the Perth Magistrate’s Court that this was a serious breach of the order and at best, was grossly negligent. She handed down fines of $6000 to Sunstone, $2800 to Mr Duddy and ordered him to pay $5628 in court costs.
Ms Watt said Mr Duddy and the company were aware of the safety standards required by the order, but failed to ensure the tension devices securing the blind cords were properly fixed and immobile, or that warning labels were attached.
“These are serious breaches with tragic consequences that were clearly foreseeable,” Ms Watt said.
Consumer Protection Commissioner Anne Driscoll said compliance with the safety order was paramount because children’s lives are at stake.
“The loss of an innocent child brings the seriousness of this matter into perspective,” she said.
“Consumer Protection will continue to work with the industry to ensure window coverings are installed correctly and children are kept safe.
“I urge consumers to check that their window coverings are safe. If curtains or blinds were fitted after April 2004 with unsecured looped cords, they should call Consumer Protection with the details first, so we can follow up the matter.
“If there are problems found, customers can expect the supplier to rectify the work at no cost.”
Individuals and companies risk prosecution if internal window coverings are not supplied or installed correctly.
If their window coverings were fitted before April 2004, consumers should make them safe immediately by cutting the cords or installing a safety device such as a cord tension device. These simple devices are available from curtain and blind manufacturers and hardware stores.
People can call Consumer Protection on 1300 30 40 54 or visit www.docep.wa.gov.au to view publications for further information and advice.