2026 Minnesota Statutes

142H.23 EMERGENCY AND ACCIDENT POLICIES AND RECORDS.

Subdivision 1.Emergency preparedness plan.

(a) An applicant must develop a written plan for emergencies that require evacuation, relocation, sheltering in place, or lockdown resulting from a fire, blizzard, tornado, or other natural disaster, or other threatening situations that may pose a health or safety hazard to a child, such as an intruder or violence at the facility. A license holder must carry out the emergency plan during emergencies. The plan must be written on a form developed by the commissioner and include:

(1) procedures for an evacuation, including building evacuation routes and identification of primary and secondary exits;

(2) procedures for relocation, including a designated relocation site;

(3) procedures for sheltering in place and lockdown;

(4) procedures for notifying a child's parent of an evacuation, relocation, sheltering in place, or lockdown, including procedures for reunification with families;

(5) accommodations for a child with a disability or a chronic medical condition;

(6) accommodations for infants and toddlers;

(7) procedures for storing a child's medically necessary medicine that facilitates easy removal during an evacuation or relocation;

(8) procedures for continuing operations in the period during and after a crisis; and

(9) procedures for communicating with local emergency management officials, law enforcement officials, or other appropriate state or local authorities.

(b) A license holder must review and update the emergency plan at least once each calendar year and as needed when changes to the circumstances or facilities necessitate an updated plan. Documentation of the yearly review and when changes are made must be maintained in the program's administrative records.

(c) Program staff must be trained on the emergency plan at orientation as specified under section 142H.09 when changes are made to the plan and at least once each calendar year. Training must be documented and maintained on site.

(d) A center must have an operable on-site flashlight for use in an emergency situation. A cell phone may not be used to meet this requirement.

(e) A license holder must conduct fire drills every month and hold tornado drills monthly from April 1 through September 30. Fire and tornado drills must be documented and include the date of the drill, the start and end time of the drill, and the name of the program staff person completing the documentation. Documentation must be maintained in the program's administrative records.

(f) Primary and secondary exits and evacuation routes must remain unblocked.

Subd. 2.Emergencies, accidents, incidents, and injuries.

(a) The policies and procedures for emergencies, accidents, incidents, and injuries must include:

(1) procedures for administering first aid;

(2) procedures for the daily inspection of potential hazards;

(3) procedures for fire prevention and procedures to follow in the event of a fire, persons responsible for the evacuation of children and areas for which they are responsible, instruction on how to use a fire extinguisher, and instructions on how to close off the fire area;

(4) procedures to follow when a child is missing, including when a school-age child does not arrive at the center when expected after school;

(5) procedures to follow if a person who is unknown, unauthorized, incapacitated, or suspected of abuse attempts to pick up a child or if no one comes to pick up a child. The procedure must include a practice for verifying a person's identity;

(6) procedures for obtaining emergency medical care; and

(7) procedures for recording emergencies, accidents, incidents, and injuries involving a child enrolled in the center. The written record must include:

(i) the name and age of the child involved;

(ii) the name of employees or volunteers present;

(iii) the date, time, and place of the emergency, accident, incident, or injury;

(iv) the type of injury;

(v) actions taken by staff; and

(vi) to whom the emergency, accident, incident, or injury was reported.

(b) At a minimum, the emergency, accident, incident, or injury must be reported in writing to the parent and as otherwise required in section 142H.28.

(c) Each calendar year, the license holder must conduct an analysis of the emergencies, accidents, incidents, and injuries that have been documented pursuant to paragraph (a), clause (7). Documentation of the yearly analysis and any modification of the center's policies based on the analysis must be maintained in the program's administrative records.

(d) The license holder must post a facility floor plan in a visible location in each classroom and other areas in the facility where child care is provided. The posted floor plan in each area must include:

(1) identification of primary and secondary exits;

(2) building evacuation routes;

(3) identification of tornado shelter and other shelter-in-place locations;

(4) identification of staff positions responsible for the evacuation or sheltering of children;

(5) the name and address of the designated relocation site; and

(6) phone numbers and sources of emergency medical services, the poison control center, the fire department, and the department's licensing division.

(e) The license holder must ensure program staff are trained on the emergency, accident, incident, and injury policies and procedures at orientation as required in section 142H.09 when changes are made to the policies and procedures and at least once each calendar year. Training must be documented and maintained on site.

History:

2017 c 6 art 16 s 13; 2019 c 9 art 2 s 52; 2024 c 80 art 2 s 74; 2024 c 115 art 16 s 41; 1Sp2025 c 3 art 14 s 12; 2026 c 127 art 12 s 24

NOTE: This chapter, as added by Laws 2026, chapter 127, article 12, sections 1 to 37, is effective July 1, 2027. Laws 2026, chapter 127, article 12, section 41.