Parents for Window Blind Safety, a national 501 C (3) non-profit organization, was founded November 1, 2002 by Matt and Linda Kaiser after they lost their daughter, Cheyenne Rose, to a hidden hazardous inner cord of a window blind in 2002. Placing the pull cord up high out of Cheyenne’s reach was not enough to prevent Cheyenne’s accident. After the death of Cheyenne, the Kaiser’s read hundreds of In-Depth Investigation reports from the Consumer Product Safety Commission of children who silently strangled on window covering products with properly placed safety devices, that failed. Today, children, even as old as 7 years of age, are victims of hazardous cords that passed through industry policed ANSI safety testing. Since 1980, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission has records of over 600 strangulation injuries and deaths in the USA.  As a direct result of 20 years of advocacy, the U.S. CPSC  approved a federal safety standard for operating cords on custom window coverings on November 2, 2022. Custom window coverings include shades, blinds, curtains, drapery or other cord-operated products, created to a consumer’s specifications. The Commission also approved a new federal safety rule that added non-compliant window covering cords to CPSC’s substantial product hazard list.

Our Mission

PFWBS mission is to:

  • Educate consumers about the dangers of accessible window covering cords in homes, daycare facilities, and military housing
  • Collect injury and product data to pinpoint hazard factors
  • Help create safer standards and encourage innovation of safer products in the industry
  • Test window covering products for safety
  • Support parents in all aspects of their grief

PFWBS has been featured in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, Consumer Reports Magazine, Parents Magazine, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and other publications throughout the United States. PFWBS provides consulting services for national and international manufacturers of window covering products and window covering safety devices. Please visit our testing site for more information.