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From services to concerts to fundraising events, churches are part of the fabric of their local communities. Most of the time, such activities represent little or no additional risk. However, larger events or unusual fundraising activities can present more significant challenges. These will need to be properly managed to ensure people remain safe.
Managing health and safety at church events
Whatever the event, all that's required is to follow a series of basic tasks. These include focusing on:
- Planning for the event – the level of detail of this should be proportionate to the scale of the event and the degree of risk associated with it
- Planning for incidents and emergencies – so that you can respond promptly in an appropriate manner. Again, this will be dependent upon the level of risk presented by any event
- Managing the event so that it runs safely – here you may need to ensure adequate coordination of the activities; provide training for employees and volunteers; monitor the precautions you have put into place, and so on.
Planning a church event
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Your insurance automatically covers the PCC for any events you organise in the church or anywhere else. Typical church events like bring and buy sales, bazaars, and flower festivals are all covered, but please do tell us if you are holding an event that could be dangerous, such as firework displays, clay pigeon shoots, rock climbing, or abseiling. We can then give you more details about your cover.
If you’re holding an event at someone’s house, like an Open Gardens event or a prayer meeting, the homeowner won’t be covered. We recommend asking them to check if their household insurance includes personal liability cover. Most normal household insurance policies do – and if they’re insured with Ecclesiastical, they will certainly be covered.
Anyone using their car on behalf of your church should check with their insurers to find out whether they are covered. The driver of the vehicle will be liable for anything that happens, so we recommend that they let their motor insurer know that they’re offering lifts to and from church.
Yes, your policy will cover you for any event you hold outside of the church, anywhere in the British Isles. We can even cover you abroad – call us on 0345 777 3322 if you’d like to know more. Before any event, we strongly recommend that you carry out a risk assessment.
Bouncy castles are fun, but people do get injured on them. Make sure everything is safe by following our advice. It’s also a good idea to hire a bouncy castle from someone who sets it up and manages it for the whole event. Check the hirer has public liability insurance, and ask for full instructions on how to use the equipment safely. If you follow their instructions, your policy will cover you.
You might not need to, as your policy automatically covers hired equipment up to £2,500 for any single item and £10,000 for any event. If you need to arrange more cover than this, call us on 0345 7773322.
Your policy covers your bell ringers in the church and elsewhere, as long as they are acting for the PCC. It also covers visiting bell ringers if they are injured while they’re on the premises, and if the injury was due to the negligence of the PCC. It won’t cover them if they are responsible for injuring someone else, so it’s worth checking they have cover in place.
Unless the coffee shop means there will be a lot more cash held at the church, or you’ll be serving a lot of hot meals regularly, you probably won’t need any extra cover. If you are preparing and serving food, you must train staff and volunteers in basic food hygiene and let your local council know. They’ll tell you whether you need to register as a food service provider. You might also want to read our advice on preparing food safely.