This report discusses the existence and prevention of major health and safety risks for children in day care and makes recommendations for the Federal Interagency Day Care requirements (FIDCR) concerning health and safety. Section I describes varying concepts of risk related to probability and to possibility of adverse events, and discusses assumptions about risk made by insurance, legal and lay sources. Section II presents evidence which delineates the major risks to health and safety of young children, in terms of both frequency of incidence and potential severity of outcome. Risks discussed include motor vehicle and pedestrian accidents, fires and burns, falls, suffocation and ingestion, drowning, infectious disease, malnutrition, dental disease, lead absorption, hearing loss, developmental and speech disabilities, allergies, vision problems and genetically transmitted disease. Section III discusses four internal program characteristics and four outside resources which help prevent or minimize risks described in section II. Later sections survey current health and safety practices in day care, discuss three options for a federal role in minimizing risks, and offer recommendations pertaining to federal regulation and areas for further research. (Author/CM)