Safety Merit Badge
The nine requirements with the four at-home projects drawn out of the lettered lists they hide in, the two building inspections linked so they can be done on one visit, and the knowledge parts that feed each project shown pointing at it.
10 steps (34 parts inside them). 2 parts depend on questions you have not answered yet. · Version 1, published 13 August 2026 · About Safety Merit Badge
No questions answered
This is the whole plan: everything that could apply to anybody. Answering the question at the address above takes out the parts that are not for you.
Which of this applies to you
You have not answered anything yet, so this is the whole plan: everything that could apply to anybody. Answering one question will take out the parts that are not for you.
Your progress
42 steps can be started now; 1 is waiting on something else.
Clear ticksYour ticks are kept in this browser, so they will still be here next time. They are in the address as well, so a link to this page carries them to another device.
The steps
Stage 1 of 10
1 step
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1. What safety is, and what a hazard is Requirement
Two parts of definition, and 1(b) is the idea the two building inspections later on are an exercise in.
This badge has been rewritten more completely than most. The 2025 requirements book's version is built round a notebook of collected newspaper and internet articles, a safety project approved by your counselor, five emergency action plans for activities outside the home, and the National Terrorism Advisory System, and NONE of those are on the current page. Requirements 6 and 8 here are not in the book at all. If you are working from a printed book, check the official page first.
Stage 2 of 10
1 step
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2. Family and home safety: three at-home projects among six parts Often forgotten Requirement
Six parts. Three of them (2(d), 2(e), 2(f)) are jobs that need an adult or your whole household and end in a review with your counselor.
THREE OF THESE SIX PARTS ARE JOBS, NOT ANSWERS. 2(d) is an inspection done with an adult. 2(e) is a plan drawn AND a drill run with everyone in the building. 2(f) is a family plan plus a supplies kit assembled or inspected. All three end in a review with your counselor, so none of them can be done the night before, and with 3(b) that is four separate pieces of at-home work on a badge that otherwise looks like a series of conversations.
6 parts
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2(d). Inspect a building for hazards, with an adult, then review it Often forgotten You do NOT have to buy the pamphlet for this. The requirement says the Home Safety Checklist "in the Safety merit badge pamphlet, OR ONE APPROVED BY YOUR COUNSELOR", and the same alternative appears at 2(f) and 3(b). Better than that: all three checklists are published free by Scouting America and linked from the requirements themselves. They are filed under OTHER badges' resource folders, which is why they are easy to miss: the Home Safety Checklist and the family emergency kit checklist sit under Emergency Preparedness, and the Home Security Checklist under Crime Prevention. Agree with your counselor which one you are using before you start walking round with a clipboard.
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2(e). A fire-escape plan with drawings, and an actual drill Often forgotten THIS IS A DRILL, NOT A DRAWING. Exit routes from every room, a meeting place outside, and then everybody in the building actually does it. That means finding an evening when they are all there and willing, which for most families means asking a week ahead. Both the plan and the drill get reviewed with your counselor.
Stage 3 of 10
1 step
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3. Safety from crime, and the second inspection of the same building Often forgotten Requirement
Two parts. 3(b) is the same building and the same adult as 2(d), looked at for security instead of hazards.
2 parts
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3(b). Inspect the same building for security, with an adult, then review it Often forgotten This is the same walk round the same building as requirement 2(d), both say "your home or a similar building", both need an adult with you, and both end in a review with your counselor. One is looking for hazards and one for security. Nothing on the badge tells you to do them together; do them together, and you have asked that adult for one evening instead of two.
Stage 4 of 10
1 step
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4. Safety in public places, four things explained Requirement
Four parts, and three of them are about what you do in the first thirty seconds of something going wrong.
Stage 5 of 10
1 step
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5. Safeguarding Youth: the guidelines, the three R's, and how to report Often forgotten Requirement
Three discussion parts. Difficult subject matter, and it is entirely reasonable to ask for a parent or guardian to be present.
Requirements 5 and 6 cover abuse and assault. They are discussion requirements, and it is entirely reasonable to ask your counselor to have a parent or guardian present, and to say beforehand which parts you would rather keep brief. This site does not reproduce or paraphrase the official material on either subject. It names what is asked and leaves the answers where they belong.
Stage 6 of 10
1 step
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6. Avoiding and preventing assault, three settings Often forgotten Requirement
Three parts, each a different situation. Difficult subject matter, discussed with your counselor.
Stage 7 of 10
1 step
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7. Online safety, six discussions Requirement
Six parts, and only identity theft appears in the 2025 requirements book. The rest of this requirement is new.
Stage 8 of 10
1 step
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8. Travel safety: six ways of getting about Requirement
Six parts, none of them in the 2025 requirements book. Guidelines explained for each.
Stage 9 of 10
1 step
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9. Careers, or a hobby, lifestyle or volunteering. Do ONE Requirement
The badge states the choice itself. Both routes are research and a discussion with your counselor.
2 parts
Stage 10 of 10
1 step
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Counselor signs it off Milestone
The completion date is the date you met the requirements, not the date of the signature.
Usually comes after 9. Careers, or a hobby, lifestyle or volunteering. Do ONE.
Merit badge requirements are republished annually. A Scout beginning work uses the requirements as they stand then; a Scout already working may finish under the ones they started with. Guide to Advancement 7.0.4.3 governs which applies. This page records the date its copy was read. Check it against the official page before relying on it.
This plan is a planning aid: the current Boy Scouts of America publication is always the authority, and the sources used here are listed in full. Each step names its own.