Introduction
Most of our churches are responsible for maintaining buildings. Buildings give rise to particular health and safety issues and so we have included a separate page to cover some of these. It will take us some time to determine what needs to be covered on this page, but we have made a start with the following matters.
Earthquakes
The 2010 and 2011 earthquakes in Christchurch and the subsequent earthquakes in Kaikoura and Wellington have focused attention on the strength and resilience of our church buildings. Many of our buildings were constructed when building requirements were not so stringent and may need to be upgraded to meet the Church’s expectations. At the request of the Council of Assembly, the Church Property Trustees have issued an earthquake policy setting out the Church’s expectations for our buildings. The latest version of this policy can be downloaded here.
Asbestos
The Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016 require church councils to ensure that they follow the requirements of the legislation in dealing with asbestos in church owned properties. These regulations are far-reaching. The February 2018 newsletter of the Church Property Trustees contains a helpful discussion of these regulations and has links to helpful websites. You can access a copy of this newsletter here.
Lockdown Procedures
Recent events in New Zealand and elsewhere are a reminder that, at times, our buildings may need to be a place of refuge or safety for those inside. There may be occasions when this can only be achieved by restricting access or ‘locking down’ our buildings. To do this, we need to have a good understanding of our buildings, their places of safety, and the means of ingress and egress. It makes sense, therefore, to do this work in advance and put in place practices and procedures that can be activated if it becomes necessary.
Some school policies which may help can be accessed here
The Rev. Martin Baker has advised that the Clevedon Parish – which includes a pre-school – have recently completed a lockdown procedure and guidelines and is willing to be contacted to discuss with others what is involved. To share and collaborate on this matter contact the Rev Martin Baker.