Latest / Best of Business / Graeme Rose: Window Treatments CEO explains why it's not practical to regulate blind cords

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Graeme Rose: Window Treatments CEO explains why it's not practical to regulate blind cords · Best of Business

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks Be Follow
• 0:12
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• 0:16
  Speaker 2: The government has already said no to new rules around
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  Speaker 2: blind cards to keep kids safe. The coroner's findings into
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  Speaker 2: the death of Tilly Canby were released today calling for
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  Speaker 2: regulations around these blinds. But it's a no from Minister Scottsimson.
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  Speaker 2: Window Treatment CEO Graham Roses.
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  Speaker 3: With US High Graham, Good Evening.
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  Speaker 2: What's your take on this, Our regulations necessary? No.
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  Speaker 3: I think it's a better approach would be education to
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  Speaker 3: the blind industry. I think it's too complex of an
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  Speaker 3: issue to to try and regulate, So I think it's
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  Speaker 3: it's it's back to the industry to say, well, you know,
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  Speaker 3: how should we operate?
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  Speaker 2: What is complex about the regulations?
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  Speaker 3: The issue was operation of a product. And you can
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  Speaker 3: imagine someone in stowing a blind and a kitchen window
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  Speaker 3: with a bench in front of it, and an elderly
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  Speaker 3: person trying to operate that blind from from an angle
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  Speaker 3: having a very short cord, just as an example. There's
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  Speaker 3: many I could give you, but there are some. There
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  Speaker 3: are many cases unique to the situation that it is
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  Speaker 3: just impractical and it would be unacceptable, you know, to
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  Speaker 3: the customer to have to you know, comply with a rule.
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  Speaker 2: I see what you're saying. It's pose are you saying?
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  Speaker 2: For example, if you had to have the blind cord
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  Speaker 2: and at a certain height above something that a could
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  Speaker 2: climb on, like a kitchen bench, it would be so
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  Speaker 2: high in the kitchen that no one would be able
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  Speaker 2: to actually operate that blind correct, I see what you're saying. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: what about those those little what are they like breakaway
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  Speaker 2: tassels that you can you can you can put on it,
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  Speaker 2: so if anybody puts weight on it'll it'll let go
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  Speaker 2: and no one will die. Is that something we should
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  Speaker 2: be looking at.
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  Speaker 3: Well, look, they're already on the market, you know, and
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  Speaker 3: so certainly from our point of view, you know, every
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  Speaker 3: time we measure or install a product, we we encourage
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  Speaker 3: the customer to say, you know, with having cord tidies
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  Speaker 3: or or cord cleats or some some device to protect,
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  Speaker 3: to remove or at least mitigate to a certain extent,
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  Speaker 3: that risk. So, look, there are many devices already out
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  Speaker 3: there in the market, and they can be purchased quite readily.
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  Speaker 2: Why wouldn't we just make those breakaway tassels just a
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  Speaker 2: thing that we put in every single blind.
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  Speaker 3: Yep. Look, I think in the in the perfect world,
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  Speaker 3: but you know, it's just not appropriate in some cases.
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  Speaker 3: So you know, I'm all for child safety obviously, and
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  Speaker 3: so you know, I mean the ultimate is put put
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  Speaker 3: a put a motor in every blind or every curtain
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  Speaker 3: that you install, and then there is no no cords.
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  Speaker 3: But of course that's a that's an affordability, affordability issue,
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  Speaker 3: and some you know it, you know, just can't go
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  Speaker 3: down that track. But I think in terms of your
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  Speaker 3: of your standard, you know, a roller blind mind or
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  Speaker 3: a Roman blind that you know we can mitigate it
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  Speaker 3: just through common sense and a policy within the industry.
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  Speaker 2: What would you so, what would your advice be to
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  Speaker 2: a parent who was worried about this? Would you say,
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  Speaker 2: get one of the cleats and attach it to the
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  Speaker 2: side of the wall.
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  Speaker 3: One hundred percent? I think the parents, you know, we've
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  Speaker 3: all had you've got children, if we had young children,
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  Speaker 3: not anymore, but you know that they should be walking
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  Speaker 3: around the home and anything that's that's within reachable or
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  Speaker 3: even a child can push a small chair up to
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  Speaker 3: a window and grab a cord. Anything like that. You know,
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  Speaker 3: you can go on to someone something like blind Parts
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  Speaker 3: dot co dot nz and you'll be able to purchase
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  Speaker 3: a small cleat or or or a cord lock to
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  Speaker 3: instore or they can cut the cut the cords shorter.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, listen, this is a question, a personal question on
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  Speaker 2: the Roman blinds. I mean, obviously, with the Roman blinds,
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  Speaker 2: you've got the actual like pulling cord, which is a
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  Speaker 2: risk if you don't, you know, wrap it up somewhere
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  Speaker 2: where they can't get a hold of it. But what
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  Speaker 2: about all the like the spider web of blind of
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  Speaker 2: the little you know behind the Roman blind Is that
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  Speaker 2: a risky?
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  Speaker 3: It is a risk absolutely.
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  Speaker 1: What do you do with that?
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  Speaker 3: Well, for a start, you know, if you had young children,
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  Speaker 3: I would be I would be avoiding them or put
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  Speaker 3: a motor on on on the Roman blind And so
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  Speaker 3: there are no cords.
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  Speaker 2: Lord is going to be It's going to be very expensive.
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  Speaker 3: Isn't it? It is? It is so the cords on
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  Speaker 3: the back of a Roman blinds very very common. It's
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  Speaker 3: been around for years and years and years. But I
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  Speaker 3: know that's that's a that's a you know, that's a
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  Speaker 3: concern to if you've got young children.
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  Speaker 2: Right, I'm ripping them out, ripping them out, thank you,
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  Speaker 2: which is at the brand n I sort it out. Listen, Mat,
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  Speaker 2: thank you as always, really appreciate your take on that.
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  Speaker 2: As Graham Rose, CEO of Window Treatments New Zealand.
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