church health and safety
Appoint a health and safety sub-committee
Places of worship are not exempt from health and safety legislation. Environmental Health Officers still enforce health and safety legislation in places of worship under the Health & Safety (Enforcing Authority) Regulations 1998.
What should churches do?
The Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 (Section 4 (2)) imposes a duty on people who have control of premises to ensure that the premises, means of access and any plant or substance in the premises, are safe and without risk to health.
A good starting point for all churches would be to appoint a health and safety sub-committee including a member with specific responsibility for health and safety. We also recommend that churches work through the self-assessment form – “How safe is your church and church hall?” in our guidance notes.
What help is available?
Ecclesiastical’s Insurance Consultants and Surveyors conduct seminars for parishes. They show you how to draw up a health and safety policy statement and then undertake a risk assessment.
For more information on our seminars, please contact our Insurance Consultants and Surveyors.
We can also offer advice to individual churches with particular health and safety issues.
