ASAP Safety Plan Requirements Explained

Requirement 1

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

This position needs to be a dedicated person, who should definitely not be the president.

Update your Little League through either:

• The Little League Data Center
• Or return the League Officer Change Form to Little League, fax to (570) 322-2376

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.

• Talk Safety (Article on Importance of raising safety awareness)
• Add to Safety Plan Annually

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.

Leagues must at a minimum conduct a search of the Department of Justice's nationwide sex offender registry (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 LexisNexis National Criminal File database contains more than 270 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 LexisNexis, 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 (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 www.nsopr.gov )
• Volunteer Badges (Example of way to make sure volunteers have been checked)
• Volunteer Badges (En Espanol)
• Volunteer Application 2013

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.

• Michele Smith Conditioning (Techniques for conditioning)
• Michele Smith Conditioning (En Espanol)
• Michele Smith Stretching (Techniques for stretching)
• Michele Smith Stretching (En Espanol)
• Warm-Up Exercises
• Learn-Teach Dangers of Over-Use
• Weather its Safe to Play
• Curveballs-Catchers-Fatigue
• Fundamentally Sound Ball
• Avoid Collisions

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.

• First Aid Training
• First Aid Clinic Outline (Outline from EMTP program for giving first aid training)
• First Aid Clinic Outline (En Espanol)
• Could You Save a Life

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 asap@musco.com

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.

• Facility Survey Explained (Explains how the Facility Survey should be used annually to check for problems)
• Facility Survey (PDF)
• Facility Survey (XCL)

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.

• Concession safety (Food handling essentials guideline)
• Concession safety (En Espanol)
• Barbeque Safety (Maintenance and proper use of barbeque grills and cooking guidelines)
• Barbeque Safety (En Espanol)
• Wash Hands (Poster for restroom reminding of need to keep hands clean)

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.

• Safety Procedures (Several safety guidelines for coaches, managers, and umpires prior to games and practices)
• Safety Procedures (En Espanol)
• Equipment Checklist
• Low-Impact Balls
• Protect with Proper Equipment

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.

• Accident Notification and Tracking (Guidelines for Chartis Accident Notification Form and ASAP Injury Tracking Sheet)
• Accident Notification and Tracking (En Espanol)

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.

• First Aid Kits (Tells leagues what a well‐stocked first aid kit should include)
• First Aid Kits (En Espanol)

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.

• Coaches Code of Conduct (Reminder of general rules and standards that coaches are expected to adhere to)
• Coaches Code of Conduct (En Espanol)
• Disengabe-Able Bases (Make sure all fields have bases that disengage from their anchors, as mandatory in 2008. This needs to be included in your ASAP plan.)
• Disengabe-Able Base Manufacturers (Manufactures of Disengable-Able bases)
• Don't Swing (Poster reminding players to leave bats down until up to plate)
• Lightning Safety Flyer (NOAA flyer on lightning facts, safety)
• Mower Safety (Poster for equipment sheds, etc.)
• Players Catch (Reminder on rule against warming up pitchers)
• Safety Code (General reminder of conduct rules for players and adults)
• Safety Code (En Espanol)
• Volunteer Code of Conduct (Volunteer Code of Conduct for coaches to sign)
• Volunteer Code of Conduct (En Espanol)
• Protect Volunteers

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

• This data may be submitted via the Little League Data Center

Highly Recommended in 2013. Mandatory requirement for an approved ASAP plan in 2014.