Announcement

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ASAP Safety Plan Requirements Explained

Posted by Dave Barnes on Jan 03 2015 at 04:00PM PST in MA District 12 Season 2018

Reasons why your Safety Plan may be Rejected

 

All Forms MUST be mailed to Williamsport, PA. Electronic submissions are NOT accepted.

Requirement 1

Have an active Safety Officer on file with Little League International.

This position needs to be a dedicated person.

Update your Little League through either:

Requirement 2

PUBLISH and distribute a paper copy of the applicable safety manual to all appropriate and applicable volunteers.

Print and distribute the safety plan to all staff: concession manual to concession workers, equipment policies to facilities crew, first aid to managers and coaches, etc. Keep copies in common areas for all volunteers.

While safety plans may be posted on the internet, individuals must be provided with printed copies to carry with them to the areas where their duties are performed.

Samples can be found in the example safety manuals on the Safety Program Page

Include all relevant material for coaches, including these minimum standards.

Keep a complete copy for your league. Send a copy to your District Administrator or District Safety Officer. Little League International does not keep copies for leagues' future use.

Requirement 3

Post and distribute emergency and key officials' phone numbers.

  • Include league president and safety officer, consider head umpire, board members.
  • Include emergency procedures for handling injuries and who to contact to track/report them.
  • Include emergency phone numbers for ambulance, police, fire department, etc.
  • Emergency Plan (Examples for emergency contact phone list, site map and emergency procedures)
  • Emergency Plan (En Espanol)

Requirement 4

Use the Little League official Volunteer Application Form and check for sexual abuse.

Managers, coaches, board members and any others, volunteers or hired workers, who provide regular services to the league and/or have repetitive access to or contact with players or teams must fill out an application form as well as provide a government-issued photo identification card for ID verification. Check name spellings and numbers for accuracy.

When using First Advantage for background checks, Social Security numbers are required. You must enter these numbers into the database and then redact the social security number and/or other personal information from the paper copy for added protection.

Leagues must at a minimum conduct a search of the Department of Justice's nationwide sex offender registry (http://www.nsopr.gov/) using Volunteer Application Forms, on all applicable.

Little League International currently provides each league with access to 125 free criminal background checks per year. The First Advantage National Criminal File database contains more than 350 million records including criminal and sex offender registry records covering 50 states and the District of Columbia. Little League's 125 free background checks provided through First Advantage, will re-set as of Nov. 1st.

Little League strongly encourages all leagues to also utilize the national criminal records search available through the Little League website.

In addition to meeting the minimum requirement of checking the United States Department of Justice National Sex Offender Registry (http://www.nsopr.gov/), Little League strongly encourages all leagues to also utilize the national criminal records search available through the Little League website. This additional criminal records check may provide additional important information regarding the criminal records of individuals whose crimes do not require that they be listed on a sex offender registry. For example, convictions for assault, battery, theft or drug offenses would not result in a report to sex offender registry.

Information on how to utilize this benefit, as well as how to conduct background checks, can be found on the Child Protection Program page.

Important: Anyone refusing to fill out the Volunteer Application is ineligible to be even a league member.

League president must retain these confidential forms for the year of service.

Do not send in volunteers' filled out forms; provide a blank copy of league's application form from correct year with league safety plan.

  • Background Checks - local leagues must annually conduct a nationwide search that contains the applicable government sex offender registry data ( The United States Department of Justice National Sex Offender Public Registry is free and available at http://www.nsopr.gov/ )
  • Volunteer Badges (Example of way to make sure volunteers have been checked)
  • Volunteer Badges (En Espanol)
  • Volunteer Application 2014
    (For first time volunteers or for returning volunteers that last year did not use the First Advantage(formally LexisNexis) background check tool)
  • Returning Volunteer Application 2014
    (For returning volunteers that last year used the First Advantage(formally LexisNexis) background check tool)
  • Volunteer Application 2015 New
    (For first time volunteers or for returning volunteers that last year did not use the First Advantage(formally LexisNexis) background check tool)
  • Returning Volunteer Application 2015 New
    (For returning volunteers that last year used the First Advantage(formally LexisNexis) background check tool)

Requirement 5

Provide and require fundamentals training, with at least one coach or manager from each team attending (fundamentals including hitting, sliding, fielding, pitching, etc.).

It is not necessary for the first aid and fundamentals training to be held before your league's Safety Plan is submitted. It is acceptable for scheduled dates/locations to be listed to meet the requirement.

Document the date, location, and who is required to attend as well as who did attend. Intent is to provide training to ALL coaches and managers; a minimum of one participant per team must attend training annually.

Training qualifies a volunteer for 3 years; but one team representative is still required each year to attend the training.

High school, college or experienced league coaches can be great resources to provide the training to a league's coaches/managers.

Break down the training to specific divisions of play, giving the needed information for Minor Leagues separate from Little League, or Juniors, Seniors, etc. Provide training appropriate to the age and skills of the players involved. Give softball and baseball specific training as needed.

Districts can assist by providing training sessions on a district-wide basis.

Training should be modified annually to meet the local needs of players and their facilities.

Requirement 6

Require first-aid training for coaches and managers, with at least one coach or manager from each team attending.

It is not necessary for the first aid and training fundamentals to be held before Safety Plan is submitted. It is acceptable for scheduled dates/locations to be listed to meet requirement.

Due to their training and education, it is not necessary for licensed medical doctors, licensed registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and paramedics to attend first aid training in order to meet requirement; however, it is recommended that leagues utilize these professionals from their league/community to present the training.

Other individuals who attend various outside first aid training and courses are not exempt.

Document the date, location, and who is required to attend as well as who did attend. Again, the intent is to provide training to ALL team coaches/managers; a minimum of one participant per team must attend training annually.

Training qualifies volunteer for 3 years, but one team representative still needed each year.

Requirement 7

Require coaches/umpires to walk fields for hazards before use.

Recommend leagues use form to track and document any facility issues needing to be fixed.

Common sense activity — look for rocks, glass, holes, etc.

Specify who is responsible for doing this — home coach, visitors, umpire, or all?

  • Hey Coach (Checklist poster for coaches reminding of the need to check the field before playing begins)
  • Umpire Guidelines (Card for umpires to make sure field is checked before playing begins)
  • Umpire Guidelines (En Espanol)

Requirement 8

Complete the annual Little League Facility Survey

As a requirement each year, it can help leagues find and correct facility concerns.

Available online from web site - http://facilitysurvey.musco.com/ or email mailto:asap@musco.com?subject=Facility%20Survey%20Needed

Keep a copy on file for future needs; Little League does not maintain copies of surveys.

Excel spreadsheet and PDF available below for easy filing or recording for future use and records.

Requirement 9

Have written safety procedures for concession stand; concession manager trained in safe food handling/prep and procedures.

Local restaurant operators are good resources for training assistance.

Training should also cover safe use, care and inspection of equipment.

See concession suggestions: April and June, 2000, issues of ASAP News available on our website.

Requirement 10

Require regular inspection and replacement of equipment.

Coaches and umpires inspect equipment before each use by players.

Don't just discard bad equipment: destroy it or make it unusable to stop children from attempting to "save it" from waste.

Recommend use of form to remind coaches and to track equipment needs.

Requirement 11

Implement prompt accident reporting and tracking procedures.

Requiring accident forms be filed with safety officer within 24-48 hours of an incident is common.

Track "near-misses" as a proactive tool to evaluate practices and avoid future injuries.

Share information on accidents and "near-misses" with District staff.

Forms are available below and on the Forms & Publications page.

Requirement 12

Require a first-aid kit at each game and practice.

Many leagues have a complex, but each team needs some form of first-aid kit for off-site practices or travel/tournament games.

Local hospitals and medical supply companies are good sources.

If necessary, fund through special drive.

Requirement 13

Enforce Little League rules including proper equipment.

Most Little League rules have some basis in safety — follow them.

Ensure players have required equipment at all times, even catchers warming up during infield.

Make sure coaches and managers enforce rules at practices as well as games.

Make sure all fields have all bases that disengage from their anchors, as required starting in 2008.

Remind managers, coaches they are not allowed to catch pitchers (Rule 3.09); this includes standing at backstop during practice as informal catcher for batting practice.

Requirement 14

Qualified Safety Plan Registration Form

Your Safety Plan will not be shown as received without this form.

Requirement 15

League Player Registration Data or Player Roster Data, Coach and Manager Data

Mandatory requirement for an approved ASAP plan.

Please visit this resource page to learn more about ASAP Requirement 15
ASAP Requirement 15 Resource Page

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