Every church needs to develop comprehensive policies and procedures to minimize risks and ensure a safe environment for children. In the last issue of The Children's Pastor, we discussed the safety issues of child registration, event safety, and volunteer selection and supervision. Let's look at three more vital safety areas: facility safety, emergencies, and infectious disease.

FACILITY SAFETY

Encourage a representative from the fire department or department of human services to do an annual safety inspection of your facilities. You'll find that people not associated with your church may be able to give you an unbiased facility safety analysis.

For a facility to be safe, it must be clean. Meticulously! Lock cabinets and store toxic chemicals in places other than the children's ministry area. Use only approved safety glass in the children's ministry area. And never allow young children access to small toys that could be placed in the mouth and swallowed.

Classroom doors should have windows that allow people outside of the room to see inside and supervise the activities therein. Avoid rocking chairs that may crush little hands in the church nursery. Cover all electrical outlets. Inspect shelving to make sure the shelf won't tip over onto a child. Furniture, toys, and equipment should be age appropriate and in good condition. Inspect for sharp edges and cover them with the rubber corners available in most hardware stores. Install coat rack hooks a little higher than a child's head to avoid eye or head injuries.

Playgrounds should be fenced and locked when not in use. Never allow children to play unsupervised. Cover the ground beneath play structures with at least 4 inches of shock-absorbent material such as sand, pea gravel, or wood chips.

EMERGENCIES

Install functioning smoke alarms in each classroom. Locate fire extinguishers conveniently throughout the building. Routinely inspect them and train your staff how to use them. Create fire drills. Publicize a fire "safe area" outside the building where all children will be taken in the event of a fire. Be sure to instruct your children's staff to check each room (including restrooms) in the event of a fire. When rooms have been evacuated, close the doors. If you are in tornado or hurricane prone region, designate safe areas. In the case of lightning, move all children inside.

Accidents and children are almost synonymous. Each class should have ready access to a well-stocked first aid kit. In the event of an accident, notify the child's parents as soon as possible. When one child in injured, others may be frightened, so calmly separate other children from an injured child. Always use disposable latex gloves when an accident involves the discharge of body fluids. If necessary, seek advanced medical care. Remember to complete an "accident report from."

If your region doesn't have "911" access, remember to have your local emergency telephone numbers handy. Include important numbers such as fire, police, ambulance, and poison control center.

INFECTIOUS DISEASE

For everyone's health and protection, don't allow sick children to attend children's ministry programs. If you have a physician in your church, ask him or her to develop a written statement determining when a child is sick. As a general rule, we do not allow children to attend programs when a child possesses the following symptoms:

• Chills and/or fever
• Sore throat or earache
• Skin rash
• Runny nose requiring frequent wiping
• Sneezing or coughing
• Unusual fatigue or irritability
• Vomiting and diarrhea
• Communicable disease (measles, roseolla, chicken pox, etc.) or head lice

Only administer medication when you have signed permission from a parent and are in the presence of two adults. Each witness can then complete and sign a medication administration form.

Tech children to wash their hands before eating and after using the toilet or wiping their nose. Always use latex gloves when changing diapers or coming in contact with other body fluids and wash hands thoroughly with soap and water following such cantact. Line changing tables with plastic sheets and discard them after each change. If a child places a toy in his or her mouth, disinfect it before any further use.

Following these tips will help you create a safer church environment for the children and workers in your children's ministry program. Take the time to learn about safety needs at your specific facility.