Health & Safety

A Health and Safety initiative was launched by the Church of Scotland late in 2017 with the objective of having all Parishes formalise their Health and Safety procedures. To assist with this the General Trustees issued a Health and Safety Toolkit.

As a charity, the responsibility for health and safety within any Church of Scotland lies with its Trustees -- ie Members of Session and the Congregational Board. The Toolkit recommends that Health and Safety procedures are managed by the “Financial Board” which, for Kilbarchan Parish Church, is the Congregational Board. The Board is called upon to appoint a team to administer health and safety affairs and a member of the Board shall be nominated “Congregational Health and Safety Administrator” to be a point of contact for health and safety issues within the Church and to report to the Board on these issues.

The Kilbarchan H&S Team first met on 10th May,2018 comprising volunteers; May Henderson, Fiona McKenzie Campbell McKenzie, Tony Martin, Gwen Howden, and Christine Erwin. It was proposed that Tony Martin take the role of Congregational Health and Safety Administrator and this was approved by the Board on 2nd October 2018.

The first task was to draw up a Health and Safety Policy Statement and a Health and Safety Management System setting out a strategy to manage health and safety issues within the congregation and confirming the roles and responsibilities of all concerned towards maintaining a safe environment within the Church. This was circulated to Board Members and accepted at the Congregational Board meeting on 4th December.2018. See document below.

Fire Risk Assessments have being carried out for the church building, and the halls and the kitchen,. Evacuation Plans have been drawn up to ensure that everyone can get out of the buildings in an emergency. You can see these documents below.

The Team is also considering our responsibility towards external groups and bodies which use Church facilities. As part of their letting agreements copies of the evacuation plan have been sent to them along with a message explaining how we see the split in responsibilities towards Health and Safety. Accordingly they have been advised to make their participants aware of emergency procedures and also to carry out their own risk assessments for their activities. Help and advice has also been offered if required.

Further information may be had from Tony Martin or any member of the Team, and points of concern or any other input can be raised, personally or through the contact page of this site.