Girl Scout Safety

For some reason, "safety" seems to keep popping up as a topic lately. I have to admit that Girl Scouts has impressed me with their safety standards. I'm not one of those watchdog types and I'm not out looking to be impressed but surprisingly enough, one of my first "wow" moments was hearing about a 30-year-old tragedy at a camp and being informed of the current standards at Magic Empire Council (which far exceed camp standards across the USA).

As a mother, instead of being scared of sending my daughter to camp (after learning of the tragedy), I heard about the miles of security fence and the 24-hour patrols and the access procedures ... and I WANTED my girl to go to camp there instead of some camp that met the minimum security requirements by camp associations.

Anyway ... the rest of this post is really for my own reference so I can find this safety information quickly (and in case my email ever gets fried)! In addition to plenty of forms and guidelines available at http://www.mecgs.org/, there is also a Safety-Wise publication that covers nearly every imaginable topic!

Girl Scout Cookies:
At Little Brownie Bakers, we want to assure you that we share your serious concern for the safety of girls and their families. That’s why we put every promotion, premium and recognition item through rigorous safety testing before it is approved for delivery. We follow our Kellogg corporate quality safety guidelines and invest in third party testing by Specialized Technology Resources, Inc. (STR), one of the most trusted safety-testing laboratories in the world. In addition, we now are conducting factory spot tests every two weeks to ensure no safety standard slips during manufacturing. If a product fails safety testing, it will be re-manufactured, re-engineered or pulled from our product line. In fact, Kellogg standards are more stringent than federal regulations.

Girl Scout Pins:
The safety of our girls is the number one priority in Girl Scouting. One way we keep our girls safe is by ensuring the quality of all Girl Scout Merchandise products. In light of the recent recall of a badge with Boy Scouts of America, we wanted to reaffirm our safety procedures regarding metal content in products. Even though all vendor contracts contain a clause, which states that vendors are adhering to government standards, we take matters a step further by conducting periodic inspections of products to monitor production standards and safety guidelines. If a product fails to meet our high standards, it is instantly recalled and parents are alerted to the situation while we correct the issue so it does not happen again.

Girl Scout Volunteers:
In Girl Scouting, our primary concern is the health and safety of the girls we serve. An application process exists for all adult positions in Girl Scouting and differs based on community needs, and municipal and state guidelines for employment and volunteering. All candidates complete written application forms, provide references, participate in face-to-face interviews, and undergo criminal background checks.

As part of our commitment to safety, we update our materials often, and are constantly evaluating our volunteer application process to ensure that Girl Scouts and their families have access to the best, safest possible network of caring adults. We consider this an on-going process and strive to be responsive in offering the most up to date guidance for our local offices who work directly with girls. Additionally, all adults in Girl Scouting receive training on how to recognize girls who are victims of abuse. Resources are also available, designed to help girls develop behaviors and attitudes that increase their personal safety.