Questions answered from January Roundtable

Hello Headwaters,

A lot of questions were asked at our January Roundtable! Below are the answers to the questions we had.

  1. How long can an unregistered youth attend unit events without registering?  Are they covered by BSA insurance? – A Scout may attend a trip, meeting or overnight to see if joining the unit is the right fit for them. For these occasional events, the prospective youth is covered by the BSA’s liability insurance. Unit leaders should use their discretion and good judgement to avoid a youth from creating a pattern for participation without being registered.
  2. What is the difference between a “Near Miss Incident” and an “Incident”
    1. A near miss is an incident that did not result in injury, illness, or damage by definition but that had the potential to have done so. Reporting these is important in order to track dangerous conditions or situations that arise during your unit’s program.
    2. Here is the link to the BSA’s incident reporting website: https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/incident-report/
  3. Does a Charter Organization’s insurance become involved when an incident occurs? – This depends on the incident. At our Roundtable we talked about approved and not-approved Scouting activities that units can look up in the Guide to Safe Scouting (Link here). If a unit is intentionally not following the GSS, a Charter Organization could be liable for damages or injuries that occur. Charter Organization Representatives should communicate with Committee Chairs and Unit Leaders to ensure that Safe Scouting practices are being followed on trips and at meetings. (Link to Age Appropriate Guidelines for Scouting Activities and Link to Age Appropriate Camping Guidelines)
  4. How many Scouts can share a tent at summer camp? What about when there is an odd number of Scouts? – The troop should use their best judgement in this situation.  There is no reason why a youth can not be alone in a tent if the Troop leaders expect them to be responsible. Troops probably shouldn’t have a first year Scout alone in a tent if it can be avoided.

 

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