Lighthouse Central Health & Safety Policy

Updated: 28th February 2023

Definitions 

Throughout this policy, the term ‘Lighthouse’ shall be taken to mean, collectively:

• Lighthouse Beaconsfield, Registered Charity No.1198953
• Lighthouse Burnham, Registered Charity No. 1182190
• Lighthouse Cressex, Registered Charity No. 1183476
• Lighthouse Haddenham, Registered Charity No. 1201685
• Lighthouse Hazlemere, Registered Charity No. 1178562
• Lighthouse High Wycombe, Registered Charity No. 1114541
• Lighthouse Langley, Registered Charity No. 1181000
• Lighthouse Loudwater, Registered Charity No. 1197125 
• Lighthouse Mansfield, Registered Charity No. 1164680
• Lighthouse Marlow, Registered Charity No. 1178062
• Lighthouse Princes Risborough, Registered Charity No. 1178119
• Lighthouse Safe Harbour, Registered Charity No.1180779
• Lighthouse Shelswell, Registered Charity No. 1187651
• Lighthouse Central, Registered Charity No. 1169839

and Lighthouse Water Eaton which is an associate Lighthouse through St Frideswide’s Church, a resource hub in the Diocese of Oxford for community organising and church growth. 

 General Policy Statement 

Lighthouse attaches great importance to the health, safety and welfare of our volunteers and all who use facilities provided by us and who are involved in activities organised by us. To this end we aim to ensure that all activities carried out or undertaken by our volunteers are managed in a manner to avoid, reduce or control foreseeable risks to the health and safety of any person who may be affected by those activities as far as reasonably practicable whilst providing an environment that is supportive of our activities. 

We will adopt and implement policy and procedures that are compatible with and acknowledge the duties imposed by the provisions of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, (the HSWA) and related Codes of Practice and regulations that apply to our activities. 

 We will achieve this by: 

• Completing a one-page template of the overall health and safety arrangements for each local Lighthouse, which is set out in the standard format recommended by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and is completed by the local Lighthouse annually, showing who has overall and day to day responsibility 
  Template for HealthSafety Policy
• Ensuring that anyone who may be affected by our activities is not exposed to undue health and safety risks 
• Carrying out suitable assessments of the health and safety risks to which volunteers and those participating in our activities may be exposed and minimise those risks as far as is reasonably practicable 
  EXAMPLE Risk Assessment
• Ensuring that our volunteers take responsibility for their own health and safety including their actions, appropriate mode of dress/footwear and awareness of risks 
• Establishing clear organisational and procedural arrangements to effectively carry out our duties 
• Providing a safe working environment for volunteers including a fire risk assessment 
• Providing equipment that is maintained in a safe condition at all times 
• Establishing emergency procedures for actions to be taken in the event of fire, incidents, accidents, dangerous occurrences and illness and ensure that fire drills and tests of fire points/detectors/emergency lighting are undertaken regularly 
• Ensuring the safe storage, handling and labelling of any hazardous materials
• Providing relevant information, advice, training, instruction and supervision 
• Consulting with volunteers on health and safety matters Implementing appropriate procedures for the effective monitoring and review of this policy, our organisational arrangements and our health and safety procedures 
• Encouraging a positive attitude to health and safety and ensuring that all staff, by example, promote safe practice.