Published: Thursday, 28th February, 2008 3:16pm

Campaign: Ban 'lethal' loop cords

by Elaine Birse

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Two-year-old Muireann McLaughlin was tragically killed when she got tangled in a looped blind cord.

You can sign our online petition calling for a ban on loop cords by clicking on the link on our website's home page.

THE tragic circumstances surrounding the death of Menstrie toddler Muireann McLaughlin shocked the whole of the county.

The two-year-old died on 5 February after becoming tangled in a window blind cord in her bedroom.

In the days after the tragedy her parents Angus and Katie McLaughlin called on a ban to manufacturers producing blinds and curtains with looped cords.

Now the Alloa & Hillfoots Advertiser, with the full support of the McLaughlin family, is launching a campaign this week to cease the production of looped cords.

Readers can show their support by either filling in the petition in this week's paper and handing it into our Drysdale Street office, or signing up online at www.alloaadvertiser.com

Once enough signatures have been gathered the Advertiser will petition the Government to change the legislation on the production of looped cords.

Already Ochil and South Perthshire MP Gordon Banks, Ochil MSP Keith Brown and Clackmannanshire Council leader Janet Cadenhead have pledged their support to the campaign.

It is estimated that there are two accidents involving children and blind cords in the UK every year.

Last October another two-year-old, Owen Treanor, of Tyholland in County Monaghan, Ireland, died after a blind cord strangled him in his bedroom.

And in January 2004 Thomas Crow, also two, died after he was found tangled in a window blind cord at his home in Dalgety Bay in Fife.

Both the USA and Australia have already banned the production of looped blind cords.

The McLaughlin family said, 'Our view is that such a ban is long overdue, if it had been in place, Muireann and other children would still be alive.

'We owe it to our children to ensure the legislation for the ban is passed as soon as possible. We also feel that the modifications required by the manufacturers are so minimal that they, as a duty to their future customers, should not hesitate to change the design of their product in advance of any legislation.

'We hear so much about Health and Safety considerations proscribing traditional, and harmless, activities such as playing conkers, without goggles, why do the same regulations still allow the manufacture and sale of something as potentially lethal as these window blind cords?'

In response to the Advertiser campaign, MP Gordon Banks plans to lobby his fellow MPs through an Early Day Motion and raise the issue at Westminster with Baroness Morgan, who has responsibility for the British Standards Institute.

He said, 'I fully support the campaign being launched by the Advertiser and I hope that a change in the acceptable standards of blind cords will ensure that no other family has to experience the tragedy that has been visited upon the McLaughlins.

'Safety groups believe that looped blind cords kill up to two people per year and everyone agrees that this is an unacceptable figure. I would urge all parents to cut their cords now or replace them with the rigid turn type controls.

'I will also be seeking to hold a debate in Parliament to highlight the issue and to push for a change in the industry.

'These blinds have been banned in the US for over 10 years and since 2004 in Australia and sadly we have not followed suit here in the UK.

'I will be putting the point across forcefully to Baroness Morgan that we need urgent action taken here in the UK to ensure that this tragedy is never repeated.'

A study by the USA"s Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) estimated that the total number of window cord strangulations in the United States between 1981 and 1995 was 359 – nearly one child a fortnight.

In 1994 industry representatives agreed to eliminate the loops in future production of window cords which came into force the following year.

Campaign group, Parents for Window Blind Safety, was set up in 2002 by an American family to educate the public, support families affected and assist in the correction of manufacturing defects.

In Australia a Product Safety Order relating to blind cords has been in place since January 2004, prohibiting the supply of hazardous looped cords, looped bead chains or other flexible looped devices.

Both countries issued guidance to parents following the introduction of safety features.

On Thursday Ochil MSP Keith Brown proposed a motion to the Scottish Parliament supporting the calls by the McLaughlin family to ban looped cords in Britain.

He said, 'If you can stop deaths by banning an item then it is a good thing in itself. The fact that the United States, a huge economy, has already banned the looped cords shows it is possible to do it and possible to save lives.

'Some people that I"ve spoken to since Muireann"s death never thought how easy it would be for a small child to get wrapped up in the cord. It"s a household hazard and we will try and do our best to remove these hazards.'

Lending her support to the campaign, leader of Clackmannanshire Council Janet Cadenhead said, 'When a tragedy happens there doesn"t always seem to be a solution to prevent a further tragedy occurring – there is a solution here and we will do everything we can to support this campaign.'