Enterprise Risk Management

The BSA's Commitment to Safety is ongoing and we want you to know that the safety of our youth, volunteers, staff, and employees cannot be compromised. Health and safety must be integrated into everything we do to the point that no injuries are acceptable beyond those that are readily treatable by Scout-rendered first aid.

The Boy Scouts of America and the Sam Houston Area Council have created guidelines to help units:

Know, understand, and comply with all rules, policies, and procedures.
Model safe behaviors when participating in Scouting events.
Encourage staff, volunteer leaders and youth members to share in the management of risk.
Promote, provide, and when appropriate, require health and safety training.
Communicate the importance of incident and near-miss reporting and hold staff members accountable for implementing reporting procedures at unit, district, and council levels.
Study incidents that do occur to learn from them, and modify risks where appropriate.
Support enterprise risk management concepts.

The BSA's Safety Statement

Enterprise Risk Management Guide for Units

Incident Reporting Kit
Incident Definitions
Incident Descriptions and Reporting Instructions

Near Miss Incident Information Report

Incident Information Report

Health Forms

Beginning October, 2012, the new Annual Health and Medical Form (long version which includes high adventure and SCUBA information), Annual Health and Medical Form Parts A & B version (for use under 72 hours) and Annual health and Medical Form Parts A, B & C version (for use which exceeds 72 hours but not including high adventure) will be used by all Scouts and Leaders. It is good for 12 months from the date of the exam by a health care professional. Many questions about use of this form are answered in the FAQ's.

Philmont, Seabase and Northern Tier still require a more detailed health form.

Tour and Activity Plan

The new online tour and activity plan has been developed and is now active. Please go to www.myscouting.org. For the Council's Guidelines on when to file a tour plan, Click Here.

When compared to the former tour permit process, the new plan no longer requires signatures or approvals. Rather, as the plan is completed online, the required prerequisites for that type of trip or activity will be displayed.

For any prerequisites that have not been met (for example, not having someone on a trip who has Hazardous Weather training where this training is required), and before being allowed to submit the form, the person completing the form will have to certify that all prerequisites will be met prior to conducting the trip or activity. Once submitted, an email notification will be sent to your council, chartered organization, committee chair, unit leader, and emergency contact to let them know that a plan has been submitted. Receivers of this notification can log in to MyScouting and review the plan.

Other tour and activity plan enhancements include the following:

Because email notifications will be sent once a plan has been submitted, it is important to maintain current leadership information in the system.
Links are provided to current program-required training and education.
System prompts and warnings are included.
You will be able to review and fix any deficiencies flagged by the system prior to submitting the plan.
You can store, retrieve, copy, and reuse completed tour and activity plans.
Files such as trekking plans and flight plans may be uploaded.
Unit volunteers who currently have access to the tour and activity plan will be able to view and update all plans submitted for their unit up to the day before the scheduled tour date.
There will be leader certification of the plan prior to submission.

For those who do not have Internet access or simply prefer paper over an electronic version, a PDF version can be found on the tour and activity plan FAQ page.

Guide to Safe Scouting

The purpose of the Guide to Safe Scouting is to prepare adult leaders to conduct Scouting activities in a safe and prudent manner. The policies and guidelines have been established because of the need to protect members from known hazards that have been identified through 90-plus years of experience. Limitations on certain activities should not be viewed as stumbling blocks; rather, policies and guidelines are best described as stepping-stones toward an enjoyable adventure.

All volunteers participating in official Scouting activities should become familiar with the Guide to Safe Scouting. Unit leaders should be aware of state and local government regulations that supersede Boy Scouts of America policies and guidelines. Click here.