Keeping our church safe
We want our church to be a safe place for both members and visitors to attend. This is something we all work towards both in the way we care for each other, and in the way we care for buildings and equipment that our church owns.
Yet ensuring safety in our church is a particular responsibility of the leadership. Particularly, our denomination maintains a system for child safety, called PresSafe, and has rules and requirements around Health and Safety for our church in accordance with government Work Health and Safety requirements. This page gives you access to general information about these systems, as well as linking to specific tools you may wish to use.
This page has information on keeping our kids safe, and keeping people safe more generally in our church.
Learning more
If you want to learn more about PresSafe and how it helps keep our children safe, the website is at https://pressafe.org.au.
If you want to learn more about our Work Health and Safety systems, including forms and general policies, visit https://www.pcq.org.au/pcq-work-health-safety.php.
Keeping our kids safe
If you want to help with a ministry involving kids
Because we want our children to be safe, you cannot help in a ministry that involves kids without first being approved through our child safety system (PresSafe). The best first step is to tell the person who coordinates that ministry, and they will guide you through the process for approval. They may also put you in contact with someone from the office to help with applying for a Blue Card and completing the PresSafe training. As outlined here, you will need to
- apply for a Blue Card (or an exemption card) through the government's Blue Card Services.
- complete an appropriate level of PresSafe training
- have an interview with the person coordinating the ministry you wish to join
- complete a PresSafe Agreement form (found here)
- be approved by our Session
If you have a concern or wish to report an incident
As a parent or concerned adult, you should know what you can expect for the care of your child. Check out the Parents area of the PresSafe website for some specific expectations you should have.
But, as that page mentions, If you are concerned for the safety of a child or children in our church family, you can always report your concerns to either
- the person coordinating that ministry
- a minister of our church
- the Senior Minister, or
- the PCQ Child Safety Administrator (for current contact details see the PresSafe website)
Keeping people safe
The Committee of Management makes sure that we maintain the property and equipment of our church family. But you can help by letting a member of the committee know.
If someone is injured
If you, or someone you know, is injured then make sure that the person who provided assistance lets us know by filling in and giving to a member of the Committee of Management an Incident and Injury Form, found in the WHS Forms area of the denomination's website. You may also need to fill in a Record of First Aid so that we know how any injuries were managed.
Notice, we don't link directly to the particular forms as they are periodically updated. If you don't know someone on the committee, send it to admin@redlands.org.au.
If you notice a hazard
If you see equipment that is damaged, could lead to injury, or simply something we do in our church activities that you think could be unsafe and lead to injury, again fill in and give to a member of the Committee of Management a Hazard Report Form, found in the WHS Forms area of the denomination's website.
Again, we don't link directly to the form as it is periodically updated. If you don't know someone on the committee, send it to admin@redlands.org.au.