Keepig People Safe CHURCH HEALTH & SAFETY TOOLKIT NIGHT SHELTERS
Homelessess ca affect people from all walks of life, of ay geder, age or belief, ad witer ca be a particularly tough time for homeless members of the commuity. Churches have a log traditio of helpig those i eed, ad so it is o surprise that may churches ope their doors to provide shelter to homeless people every witer. Every shelter project is uique ad there are may differet variatios of them. Most ru durig the witer moths, aytime from November to the ed of March. May will ope for a set period durig this time, whilst others operate for the full five moths. Some churches ru ight shelters as part of a wider, cold weather scheme with other churches ad charitable orgaisatios i their area. Here, they work together o a rota basis to provide a warm ad safe bed for the ight. I may shelters, churches offer more tha this providig a rage of other support services. These ofte iclude providig a hot eveig meal ad breakfast, or advice o housig support, debt cousellig, domestic violece ad gettig a job. Some also offer washig facilities, whilst others simply offer a warm place to sit ad chat. Whatever the shelter project, it is essetial that steps are take to make sure they remai safe places for both those i eed ad those who ru them. Legal requiremets Your duties uder health ad safety law will deped o your circumstaces. Geerally, you will eed to esure that your ight shelter is properly maaged so that people remai safe. For example, if someoe is ijured you may eed to show that you have met your duty of care. If you are a employer, you will have duties uder the Health ad Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 ad the regulatios made uder it. You may eed to: Complete risk assessmets to idetify the precautios you eed to take Implemet those precautios, providig iformatio ad traiig for ay employees ad voluteers o what they eed to do Documet your arragemets ad resposibilities for ruig the shelter, perhaps as part of your health ad safety policy Keep records of what you have doe. Eve if you are ot a employer, but cotrol o-domestic premises, you may still have a duty to make sure the premises are safe. Further iformatio is available at www. ecclesiastical.com/healthadsafety. If you are providig food, you may have to comply with requiremets to make sure this is doe safely ad hygieically. Your shelter may eed plaig permissio from your local authority. You should speak with them before settig thigs up to see what you eed to do. It s also importat to check your isurace policy, as you may ot be automatically covered for such a activity. Aother cosideratio might relate to the receipt of charitable fuds. May groups ru uder the charitable status of the church ad it s PCC, however some may wat to apply for this i their ow right. If you chose to do this you would eed to arrage isurace idepedetly of the church.
[Title Night Shelters to be iserted here] Hazards to look out for Some of the typical hazards iclude: Furiture ad stored supplies or equipmet creatig obstructios that could cause trips Poor weather coditios (e.g. sow, ice ad rai) makig pathways ad car parks slippery Iadequate lightig makig pathways difficult to avigate, particularly o dark witer ights Heavy or bulky items (such as beds ad mattresses) that staff or voluteers may have to move to help set up ad break dow the ight shelter Some homeless people may tur to drik or drugs to help them cope with their difficult circumstaces, leadig to aggressive or challegig behaviour or vadalism Illess ad ifectio as a cosequece of poor food hygiee practices, cotact with soiled beddig, or iadvertetly hadlig sharps Vulerable adults sufferig with metal health issues, which may be maifested by physical distress, self-harm, abusive or iappropriate behaviour towards others*. *Note: this list is ot exhaustive Precautios you ca take Some of the typical precautios iclude: Plaig carefully where items will be placed both whe i use, ad durig storage, so walkways are kept clear ad free from obstructios Makig sure outdoor pathways, other access routes ad car parks are safe ad well-lit Grittig walkways ad car parks if freezig temperatures are forecast Clearig sow properly If part of a orgaised ight shelter scheme, askig orgaisig agecies for relevat iformatio about the people they are referrig before opeig each ight Esurig that at least two people are workig, ad that you have staff who stay awake through the ight. Makig sure loe workig is avoided where possible, particularly if staff may be left aloe with a guest Askig guests to sig a agreemet i advace, agreeig to the house rules relatig to drugs, alcohol, weapos, smokig, coduct etc. Makig sure food is prepared safely ad hygieically Providig suitable persoal protective equipmet (such as gloves, coveralls etc.) for staff where appropriate.* *Note: this list is ot exhaustive
Makig a start Actio 1. Idetify the eeds you wat to address i providig your ight shelter service ad how these will be met. Decide how you will meet ay related legal ad goverace requiremets. Guidace If you are cosiderig opeig a ight shelter, you will probably be aware of a eed for oe i your local area. Speakig to existig service providers ad fidig ways to complimet ad support their work ca be a effective way of respodig to eeds without udermiig or duplicatig existig provisio. It may be a good idea to speak to other local churches who are providig a similar service to see how they have goe about it. You may also wat to talk to your local authority to idetify what they may require of you. Other agecies, such as Housig Justice or Homeless Lik ca provide further help ad provides examples of best practice. Iformatio is available at www.housigjustice.org.uk ad www.homeless.org.uk/regios. If you have ay cocers about settig up your ow ight shelter, a alterative might be to speak to other providers about how you ca support them withi a existig service. Workig i partership could reduce the time you have to sped o orgaisatioal admiistratio, which start-up services ofte uderestimate. 2. Check the precautios you have i place are adequate. If they are ot, idetify ay additioal oes that are eeded ad who will be resposible for takig them. Esure that the precautios you have idetified are take ad remai effective. If you are a employer, you will eed to complete a risk assessmet coverig the aspects of ruig your ight shelter. This should help you idetify what precautios are required. Aside from this, it is sesible to pla activities ayway so that your shelter rus smoothly ad remais safe for all. The precautios required will deped o the ature of the services you are offerig, your locatio ad the profile of guests likely to be usig your shelter. Examples of the thigs you may eed to cosider iclude: The suitability ad layout of the accommodatio Witer weather precautios to prevet slips ad trips (e.g. repairig ay defects to access paths, makig sure outdoor lightig is sufficiet ad i good workig order, ad makig sure a ready supply of grit is available if required) Cotiued overleaf
Makig a start Actio Guidace The equipmet required for washig, the preparatio of food, cleaig the veue etc. ad how this will be used, moved, stored ad maitaied The adequacy of fire precautios, icludig fire exits, evacuatio procedures etc., updatig your fire risk assessmet if you have oe Emergecy arragemets, icludig ay first aid kit, telephoe ad list of emergecy umbers (icludig those of the project leader/coordiator, local doctor, police, all-ight chemist, local priest or miister. It is good practice to otify them that you are ruig the ight shelter The correct umber of staff or voluteers required to ru the shelter safely ad ay special skills or traiig that they may eed Ay support or iput eeded from other service providers or agecies Ay had over procedures ecessary at the ed of a shift Prevetig uauthorised access to areas ot iteded for use Secure areas for guests to leave ay valuables etc. Gather iformatio about guests i advace i order to better uderstad their eeds ad ay vulerabilities. I some situatios, you may eed to make a ote of ay checks or ispectios you make to esure these precautios are beig take ad equipmet remais safe. You should correct ay defects idetified i good time. 3. Cosider usig a logbook for guests. This will ormally cotai details of who did ad did ot arrive; ay accidets that occurred etc. This project lead/coordiator should be resposible for makig sure that it is available at each church o the day the shelter is ruig. It should be updated by the church coordiator or shift leader with iformatio that would be useful to the ext shift, the church ruig the shelter o the followig ight or the other voluteers.
Makig a start Actio 4. Cosider usig a agreemet ( house-rules ) for guests. Guidace It is a good idea to have a agreemet that is siged by guests before usig your facility. These rules should be kept as simple as possible. Guests should be aware of what they ca expect from the shelter, as well as what they will ot get from it. This will make sure that there is o cofusio over what is expected. The agreemet may state that: The drikig of alcohol or use of drugs (except prescriptio drugs) is ot permitted Violet, threateig, racist or other atisocial behaviour or laguage will ot be tolerated Offesive weapos are ot to be carried o the premises Smokig is ot permitted i the church buildigs Pets (except guide/hearig dogs) are ot permitted Etry to the premises will ot be permitted after a specified time. Some guests may ot have Eglish as their first laguage, so provisio will be eeded for them so that they uderstad the rules too. 5. Esure that employees ad voluteers kow what precautios to take. Make a ote of ay iformatio or traiig that is provided to idividuals i these situatios. The level of iformatio ad traiig required will vary depedig o the ature of the work ad your particular circumstaces. I all cases it is likely that you will eed to cosider providig this i relatio to: Ay required emergecy procedures Metal health awareess Drug ad alcohol awareess Precautios to esure persoal safety. Your staff ad helpers do ot ecessarily eed to be experts, but providig them with a better uderstadig of the cotext i which they are workig ad the issues relevat to homelessess will help them work more safely ad effectively.
Makig a start Actio 6. Documet your arragemets ad resposibilities for ruig a ight shelter. Review these where ecessary, particularly if you suspect that they are o loger valid. Guidace If you have prepared a health ad safety policy, record your arragemets as part of it. You ca use our Church Health ad Safety Policy template if you have t doe this ad eed oe to comply with health ad safety law. Dowload: Church Health ad Safety Policy, Template
Wat to kow more? Need to cotact us? Other useful health ad safety iformatio is available at www.ecclesiastical.com/healthadsafety Further guidace ad resources are also available at www.housigjustice.org Note: if you are i Irelad, Norther Irelad, Jersey, Guersey or the Isle of Ma, the regioal variatios might apply. I this istace, you should check the guidace provided by the Eforcig Agecy for your regio. This will be freely available o their website. If you would like to speak to someoe about health ad safety i churches, you ca either: Call our Risk Maagemet Advice Lie o 0345 600 7531 (Moday to Friday, 09.00 to 17.00 - excludig Bak Holidays) Or email us at risk.advice@ecclesiastical.com This guidace is provided for iformatio purposes ad is geeral ad educatioal i ature ad does ot costitute legal advice. You are free to choose whether or ot to use it ad it should ot be cosidered a substitute for seekig professioal help i specific circumstaces. Accordigly, Ecclesiastical Isurace Office plc ad its subsidiaries shall ot be liable for ay losses, damages, charges or expeses, whether direct, idirect, or cosequetial ad howsoever arisig, that you suffer or icur as a result of or i coectio with your use or reliace o the iformatio provided i this guidace except for those which caot be excluded by law. Where this guidace cotais liks to other sites ad resources provided by third parties, these liks are provided for your iformatio oly. Ecclesiastical is ot resposible for the cotets of those sites or resources. You ackowledge that over time the iformatio provided i this guidace may become out of date ad may ot costitute best market practice. Ecclesiastical Isurace Office plc Reg. No.24869 is registered i Eglad at Beaufort House, Bruswick Road, Gloucester, GL11JZ, UK ad is authorised by the Prudetial Regulatio Authority ad regulated by the Fiacial Coduct Authority ad the Prudetial Regulatio Authority. PD3027 1 1018