Church Safety Policy & Risk Assessment agreed by PCC

Post date: Apr 11, 2010 8:56:44 PM

We have recently undertaken a general risk assessment and drawn up a safety policy for the church, and these have been accepted by the Parochial Church Council. Nowadays such things are not optional for organisations such as ours because we need to be able to demonstrate to ourselves and the outside world that we are fulfilling our duty of care to those who use or visit the church.

In doing the risk assessment, we have taken great care to take account of our traditions, the traditions of the Church of England and the age and design of the church - and not to fall into the "elf-n-safety" trap of treating trivial hazards as major problems. We have identified a number of sensible things which need doing to eliminate or reduce risks to parishioners and others. The main issues boil down to: reducing fire risks and ensuring safe means of escape from the church in case of fire; falls from height - eg. falls whilst changing light bulbs at high level in the nave, falls from the balcony, etc.; and, risks from engaging contractors who may not be competent to do their work safely. As a result, you may notice a few minor changes - for example, some new fire exit signs, removal of obstructions impeding safe evacuation, only authorised access allowed to the balcony. There are a few more changes to come but we hope you won't find them unreasonable.

The agreed general risk assessment and safety policy are available to view or download from our website at http://www.mellorparishchurch.org/Home/our-church-council. Please pass any improvement suggestions to Graham Tipper, Richard Jones or any other PCC member. Thanks.

Richard Jones