Safety signs in churches

Common examples in church premises include signs marking fire evacuation routes, fire doors or firefighting equipment and those prohibiting smoking.

In managing your church premises you have a duty to make sure that they are safe.  This includes providing any safety signs that might be necessary. This may be to meet specific legal requirements.

If you are an employer you must provide:

• safety signs where risk assessments indicate that they are needed
• relevant Information and training for employees on the meaning of any safety signs provided and the precautions to be taken where they are displayed.

There is no need to provide signs if they don't help reduce the risk or if the risk is insignificant. Usually, safety signs need to meet certain standards relating to their size, colour, shape and format of any text.

If your premises are relatively small with a simple layout, you may not need much in the way of signage. However, for larger or multi-room, premises or those having a number of hazardous activities, a range of signs might be necessary.

Circumstances where signs might be necessary include:

• low ceilings where people are at risk of bumping their heads
• areas where objects may fall onto people
• non-obvious steps or sudden changes in floor height or level
• temporary conditions that introduce hazards, for example wet floors after cleaning
• larger than normal visitor numbers to your church who may not be familiar with the site
• prohibiting certain activities, for example, smoking
• identifying emergency escape routes (such as fire exit signs) or firefighting equipment
• advising on the location of first-aid facilities
• where asbestos containing materials are present.

Remember, that you should only use safety signs if there is a significant risk that can't be avoided or controlled in another way.

For more information about safety signs, why not download our guide.