Safer places of worship

Nuts & bolts of church buildings

SAFER PLACES OF WORSHIP CD
Congregational & General Insurance plc
£10.00 incl. p&p
Or: www.congregational.co.uk

My version did not start on insertion of the CD, so once you discover the first page is called 'welcome.htm', it becomes quite easy to navigate through the information available.

I was impressed with the amount of varied advice offered and would recommend that at least one church officer in the majority of UK churches should at least survey the CD.

Helpful areas covered include:

* Fire prevention (including a risk assessment form)
* Security measures (including a security assessment form)
* General precautions (including a note about buildings use by outside organisations)
* Health & Safety Policy (including kitchen advice [often a weakness] and stress relief exercises for VDU users!)
* Disability Discrimination (new measures effective from Oct. 2004) ù notes on physical access and communication (an induction loop for those with hearing aids) should prove helpful for churches where no action has been taken to date.
* Loss reduction ù being wise about things in general around the church buildings

The CD mentions the Children Act (1989) - and points to PCCA as the specialist in this field. Other insurers are asking for sight of the Church's Child Protection Policy and I consider it alarming that many churches have still to agree one (almost 14 years after the Act).

Overall, the CD was informative and it was useful to have all this information in one location. I believe it will be an excellent tool to ensure churches are meeting their current responsibilities as an organisation open to the general public.

David S. Whitmarsh,
Association of Grace Baptist Churches

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Safer places of worship

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