Health and Safety for Churches is a simple guide written primarily for churches but the guidance it contains is also valid for many charitable organisations. This book cuts through the legal jargon and explains what your responsibilities are in bite-size chapters.

The book is organised into three key areas that deal with the general management of health and safety; protecting people and dealing with specific safety hazards. It tackles the health and safety documentation required by law by explaining their purpose and how you can create proportionate policies and risk assessments. It includes practical examples from other churches and direction on how you can do the right thing too.

The guidance this book contains is designed to be relevant to churches of all sizes and, for smaller churches, direction is provided on achieving compliance without making things complicated. For larger churches with extensive premises, this book covers all the common health and safety issues surrounding buildings. It addresses asbestos, legionella, construction (CDM), work at height and dealing with User Groups who rent rooms.

The book is written primarily to comply with health and safety law in Great Britain. However, much of the guidance is based on sound general principles that could be applied to locations worldwide.

Health and Safety for Churches does not aim to tell you every last detail that is contained in the Health and Safety Executive's own guidance. What it does do, is present a summary of your responsibilities with examples in one place. Then, if you need to know more, you will be able to search the HSE's website for information more effectively because you understand the situation more clearly.

This book is written by a Chartered Safety and Health Practitioner who is committed to sensible health and safety. Gavin Taylor is a practicing Safety and Health Practitioner and a qualified teacher. He has written articles for Safety Management and delivered papers at national and international seminars. He develops and delivers training courses for the British Safety Council as well as training, auditing, inspecting and investigation accidents for organisations of all sizes.

Gavin Taylor is a member of the Methodist Church and based this book on advice given to those responsible for managing the church premises and activities. His hope is that his practical approach to managing health and safety can be shared with a wider audience. The profits from the sale of the book will be donated to charity.