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On this page, you will find many other important things that affect Places of Worship. Many of these are related to Health and Safety in one way or another, and most are to do with legal requirements.
Legal topics of interest
Data protection and Computer Security are essential to ensuring that personal data is kept secure. In some causes, registration with the Information Commissioner might be needed, and there is a small fee for this. What is essential is that you keep the information you have secure.
The Disability Discrimination Act affects all Places of Worship. It means that you must provide for disabled people even if you do not have any regularly attending. You might need provide disabled toilets and other things in the building, but you can help people by simply being aware of how different disabilities affect people.
Property matters
Many Places of Worship have mounting energy bills and are mostly caused by heating and lighting equipment. It is possible to reduce these by some simple energy saving measures. This could include adding insulation and lagging to prevent heat loss or changing light bulbs to new energy saving types.
Maintenance of Churches and Places of Worship is important to prevent harm to people. There are some specific issues when these works are being carried out, including the use of ladders and controls can be put into place such as Permits to Work.
For many Places of Worship, security is very important. There are a number of simple things that you should do to keep your Place of Worship secure, more than installing an intruder alarm. Making sure that your Place of Worship is secured by having good door and window locks is a very important part of improving security.
Sound systems are installed in most Places of Worship and would be used to ensure people can hear clearly. Sound systems must be designed for the specific needs of the Church or Place of Worship. Systems need to include an induction loop to ensure hearing aid users can take full advantage of the system.
Specific Situations
Some Churches and Places of Worship have a Charity Shop to raise much needed funds, but there are many different Health and Safety issues that need to be addressed for the safety of staff and customers. There are restrictions on the sale of certain goods, and you might need to register if you plan to sell food.
Any Church or Place of Worship that serves food needs to ensure that the food will not cause any food poisoning. If food is served regularly, the local Environmental Health department might need to be informed and some food labelling might be required.
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