What is Health and Safety about?
To put it simply, Health and Safety is about preventing harm to people. It is about complying with Health and Safety Law and fulfilling a Duty of Care to members of the public.
There are many different ways in which someone could be harmed in Church or Place of Worship, from an accident from working at height through to work-related stress or illness. Health and Safety considers all aspects of safety, health and welfare for staff, volunteers, members of the congregation and other members of the public.
For many Churches and Places of Worship, despite popular belief, Health and Safety is not overly complicated and needs only a bit of time. Many of the precautions that are required are either free or low-cost. The most important thing to realise is that everywhere is different – different size premises with different congregations, each with its own unique risk. Health and Safety is not about eliminating risk but taking a balanced view to reduce the risk.
Health and Safety Law
Businesses have been dealing with Health and Safety for many years now owing to the various regulations that exist. Many Churches and Places of Worship have been slow to follow, mostly because many don't see their Place of Worship as a Workplace. There is also a myth that you need to employ five or more people before you need to do anything – this is definitely not the case!
The main piece of legislation that covers Health and Safety is the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. There are a large number of regulations that have been made under this Act covering certain key topics, such as chemical safety and work equipment. Many of the titles of the regulations might not automatically seem to fit in with Churches and Places of Worship, but these regulations need to be considered.
In a similar way, fire safety is covered by the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which replaced the Fire Precautions Act 1971 in October 2006. This Order places duties on the "responsible person" for non-domestic premises to ensure that fire precautions and procedures are in place.
The duties under Health and Safety Law and Fire Safety Law are mandatory, no matter what size the premises or congregation is. It does not matter how old the building is or how many times per week the building is being used. The same general requirements exist for all Churches and Places of Worship.
The requirements of regulations can seem bewildering. The Health and Safety Commission produce a number of "Approved Codes of Practice" (known as "ACOP" for short). These documents give an official interpretation of the law and following them is a good way of showing that you have complied with the law. There is no such defence of doing nothing!
Many parts of Health and Safety Law are based on the principle of reducing the likelihood of someone being harmed to a low level. This makes Risk Assessment such an important and useful tool for Health and Safety. Risk Assessment is a fact-finding exercise used in Health and Safety to help decide the chance of injury or fire.
For Churches and Places of Worship, Health and Safety Law is enforced by the local authority (usually the Environmental Health department of the local District, Borough or Unitary Authority). Fire Safety Law is enforced by the local Fire and Rescue Service. Both of these agencies have the power to access the premises to perform an inspection. In some cases, this might result in an "improvement notice" (requiring some actions to be taken within a certain time scale) or a "prohibition notice" (requiring something to cease until people's safety is assured).
Health and Safety law is a specific section of "Criminal Law" in the UK. Failure to comply can see a person fined or imprisoned (although this is usually only a last resort).
"Duty of Care" and liability
Many people are currently concerned with their liability in case of accidents. Although we can insure against the financial risk, we must still take reasonable care for people's safety. This is known as "Duty of Care".
Should there be an accident, the person suffering the injuries might wish to take legal action for compensation. In the civil courts, it would need to be established that the Duty of Care has been fulfilled. Where people are employed there needs to be suitable "Employers Liability Insurance", it is also possible to insure against "Public Liability" but neither of these means that safety precautions can be ignored.
Even without this Duty of Care, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act itself requires employers to ensure the safety of people who are not employees. Similarly, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order requires that the fire safety of all "relevant persons" is considered. This includes the Sunday congregation and any member of the public visiting the premises in the week as well as paid personnel and volunteers.
The general safety precautions that are put into place for staff and volunteers will generally ensure that the Duty of Care is fulfilled. However, it is important to remember that it cannot be assumed that any member of the public has any knowledge of safety procedures in your situation. In this respect, Places of Worship can learn from other places of public assembly such as theatres and cinemas.
Moral obligations
Despite the legal requirements for Health and Safety, there is also a moral objective for ensuring people's safety. This is certainly not a minor objective where Churches and Places of Worship are concerned. Consider the bad press that could be created over an accident and how that could reflect upon a congregation.
Most people now expect that their safety is considered as they enter a building. There is some evidence that people are now more likely to take legal action should they suffer an injury, and Churches and Places of Worship are by no means exempt from this. There are many differing views on the so-called "compensation culture" but it is nevertheless important to have reasonable safety precautions in place.
Ensuring the Health and Safety of everyone is plainly common sense and every Church and Place of Worship must take action.
Responsibilities
One of the largest issues for many Churches and Places of Worship is deciding who is responsible for Health and Safety. Most of the regulations assume that the person having overall responsibility for Health and Safety is the person having overall control of the premises. This might be the Chairman of a board of trustees or the minister or pastor. Where there is any doubt, the exact responsibility must be identified in the Health and Safety Policy (although this does not mean that an individual can remove all responsibility for safety matters).
In some situations, one person might have taken on some aspects of Health and Safety, such as testing the fire alarm and keeping paperwork up-to-date. This individual is not the only person responsible for Health and Safety – everyone has a role to play.
Every member of staff and every volunteer is responsible for their own Health and Safety and the safety of others through their own actions and omissions. Should an individual have responsibility over a group of people (such as, for example, a choirmaster), this person is likely to have responsibility for the safety of this group of people.
Summary
There are three mains reasons why Health and Safety is so important:
 There are legal requirements under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
The safety of the public must be considered, which is known as "Duty of Care".
There is a strong moral argument why Churches and Places of Worship must consider Health and Safety.
To start looking at some of the important Health and Safety topics, please continue to our Health and Safety Information Page. Also, look at our Frequently Asked Questions page.
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