Gearing Up for Summer Youth Activities
As the school year comes to a close, summer activities are ramping up. If your organization is planning events for the youth in your community – Vacation Bible School, camps, daycare and family activities – there are many safety considerations to think about before day one. Here are some things to keep in mind:
Revisiting Your Safety Plan – Summer youth activities usually bring an influx of kids to your organization. With the increase in turnout, it’s more important than ever to ensure you have a proper safety plan in place so your event team knows how to respond to allergic reactions, injuries, inclement weather and other emergency situations. If you do already have one in place, be sure to double-check it and update as needed. Your safety plan might include the following sections:
- Emergency evacuation procedures
- Severe weather procedures
- Intruder procedures
- Sexual misconduct and abuse prevention
- First-aid procedures
If you don’t have a safety plan in place, check out this resource for guidance on what your safety plan should include.
Screening Employees and Volunteers – Employees and volunteers are key contributors to running successful activities. However, before hiring employees or accepting volunteers to work these events, it is crucial that you run proper background checks on them. Background checks deter criminals and sexual predators, can reveal criminal history and provide peace of mind. This resource helps you navigate background screenings.
Taking Precautionary Measures – The last thing you want at your events is an accident that results in injury or damage to occur. There are a number of precautionary measures that your organization, employees and volunteers can take in order to reduce the chance of this happening, and this article outlines what you can do to help protect participants and enjoy a fun-filled, accident-free summer.
Source: https://www.guideoneconnections.com/blog/article/gearing-summer-youth-activities
