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Many Places of Worship are part of a larger organisation, such as a Church of England diocese, and there are some slight differences in the way that Health and Safety is managed. However, there is still a need for Health and Safety to be dealt with at each local Place of Worship.
The first difference is that there will be some kind of management structure with someone who has overall responsibility for Health and Safety in the organisation. This is a bit like a Health and Safety officer in a workplace. This person would be responsible for deciding what the Health and Safety policy of the organisation is.
This policy is usually sent to someone in each Places of Worship for him or her to use. This document usually covers things like chemicals, electrical safety and accident reporting. It is important that this document is kept safe.
Because this policy document covers many different buildings in the organisation, you might find that some parts are not applicable to your Place of Worship. It is suggested that you produce your own policy, which would be specific to your building.
The policy document will also include a Health and Safety Policy Statement, which needs to be printed out and displayed.
There will be someone in the organisation that is responsible for advising on Health and Safety matters. There should be a helpline available in normal office hours so that you can get advice, and support by e-mail should also be available easily.
With some organisations, there is a contract for fire extinguisher servicing that covers all buildings. Additionally, there might be a routine for maintenance inspections on the building, heating systems and electrical installations.
Note that these documents are not Risk Assessments and they cover the whole of the organisation. This means that they are usually considered to be Generic, and this means that you might need to modify them slightly to fit in with your own Place of Worship. They do give you a good guideline for making your own Health and Safety policy and deciding what you need to do in your own Place of Worship.
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