An introduction to health and safety
Health & safety and protecting people
For most churches, managing health and safety should not be complicated, costly or time consuming. Here are some tips and tools to help you get started.
Health and Safety – self-assessment for churches
13 August 2019
How safe is your Methodist church? Risks at your church can cause damage or injury but self-assessment can help you identify and mitigate those risks.
A person injured on church grounds may try to make a compensation claim against the church. In extreme circumstances, where the church is found to be at significant fault, criminal prosecutions can also occur.
How safe are the church premises?
Managing health and safety effectively should be everyone’s responsibility but knowing where to begin can be a challenge. Using our self-assessment tool, you can identify key steps that address health and safety at your church.
Start with a self-assessment
A self-assessment will help you get started by identifying the steps you might need to take, or simply check the adequacy of what you have already done.
It will also help to pinpoint some of the more common hazards where further action may be necessary. In this context, the question set provided is not exhaustive and you might have to consider other aspects to meet some of the other legal duties you may have. This will depend on your own particular circumstances and the guidance we have prepared will help you decide.
Answer the 20 questions included in our self-assessment questionnaire to find out how safe your church is and what is required from you next.
Review your health and safety arrangements periodically or when circumstances change. It may be useful to re-visit your responses to this questionnaire to help you do this.
