Safeguarding Your
Church
Debbie Scholz
Emergency Response and Preparedness Planner
– SEA Consulting Group
Harbor View Presbyterian Church
Purpose
• To provide you with ideas, tools, and guidance
on how to best protect the property and
people of your church from:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Thefts
Accidents
Mis-use of Facility
Assault / Injury
Fire / Natural Disaster
Other
Agenda
• Topics Being Addressed in this Presentation:
– Physical Plant Safety
– Corporate Safety Policies
• Member Safety
• User Safety Requirements and Policies
– Insurance Review / Audits
– Training Education Needs
– Update and Maintenance of Plans and Policies
Won’t Happen Here Attitude
• It won’t happen here.
• If it does happen here, it
won’t affect me.
• If it does affect me, it won’t
be that bad.
• If it is that bad, I can’t do
anything about it anyway!
WRONG!
Disclaimer
• There is no such thing as 100% effectiveness!
• Security is a component of Safety.
• Security and Safety are attitudes ALL staff and
congregation members must adopt – otherwise you
are doomed to fail.
• Complacency Encourages Crime.
Bottom Line – your church is not a prison and should
serve your community and membership, but you
need to minimize your potential loss risk!
Systematic Approach
• Keys to Achieving a Safe Church:
– Utilize a Planning Cycle – can’t do it all at once!
– Many of the topics in this presentation are common sense
items…regular maintenance / oversight is required
Step 1: Planning
• You probably already have many of these items in
place or underway – may just need to be formalized
• Many of these items in this presentation are
common sense requirements…
– Most Insurance Companies now require the use of Best
Practices for Church Safety
• See what other churches already have – don’t have to re-invent
the wheel – Steal Shamelessly from others and customize for your
purposes
• Reach out to your local Emergency Planning Department (EPD,
Fire, Police – often your own members) for additional information
/ guidance
– Legal Review of all plans/policies is highly recommended
Planning Corollaries
1.Plans are only as good as the information
incorporated into them
2.If you don’t use and/or maintain a plan, it is
essentially a “door stop” – not much good for
anything except holding the door open
3.“Safety is not a passive strategy”
4.“Hope is not a strategy” when addressing
planning needs
Physical Plant Safety
• Conduct Internal Audit of Facility: ($ to $$$$)
– Secure the facility – general (regular) maintenance is key:
• Repair broken windows, doors, locks, etc.
• Remove bushes and shrubs that block doorways and line of sight
• Ensure all trees and shrubs are well pruned, especially near
outbuildings
• Fencing and gates operational and utilized effectively
– Identify and address “Slip, Trip, and Fall” hazards internally
and externally from:
• Rain / Snow / Ice
• Localized flooding and drainage issues in parking lot, egress areas,
etc.
Physical Plant Safety, Cont.
– Lighting ($ to $$)
• Replace all burned out bulbs / lights regularly
• Incorporate motion-detection and emergency lighting
at all ingress and egress points, bathrooms, etc.
– Hard-wired lights
– Solar lights
Physical Plant Safety, Cont.
– Signage: ($ to $$$)
• Clearly mark facilities, internally and externally
– Are signs clean, clear, and readable? From a distance?
Up close?
– Spelled correctly?
– Attractive and Professional?
– Do they direct people to where they need to go?
– Are lighted signs working? If not repair / replace
“Signs! Signs! Everywhere there’s signs.
Blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind
Do this, don’t do that, Can’t you read the sign?”
Physical Plant Safety, Cont.
– Access Controls: ($ to $$$)
• Alarm Systems
– (Fire / Security)
• Panic bars with alarms for exterior doors
• Provide view windows for all interior doors
– Must be able to see into all rooms from outside
Physical Plant Safety, Cont.
– Develop Strict Key Control Policy: ($ to $$)
• How many people have keys to your facility?
–
–
–
–
Master Keys
Main Ingress / Egress doors
Interior Rooms
Other
• Do you have a list of all keys and who has
them?
• Are they numbered / accounted for?
If not, its time to Re-Key!
Physical Plant Safety, Cont.
– Develop and maintain complete inventory of all Church
property: ($)
–
–
–
–
–
Electronics (computers, copiers, A/V Equipment, Phones, FAX, etc.)
Music (sheet, choir, other)
Furniture
Room by room
Facility design, upgrades, HVAC systems, etc.
• List brand, model and serial numbers, value, # of copies, etc.
• Photograph and video inventory also recommended
• Inscribe electronics and furniture with church name, phone number
or use “Property of” tags
• Maintain several copies – don’t put all of your eggs in one basket!
• May want to provide CD copy of all files to your Insurance Company
Example Equipment Inventory
Example Photo Inventory
Physical Plant Safety, Cont.
– Copper Thefts: ($ to $$$)
• A/C system thefts can cause $3,000 – $75,000+ in damages per
event
–
–
–
–
–
8/2009 - $1M copper stolen from School construction site - Greenville
12/2009 - $60-70K in AC unit theft – Summerville
7/2010 – Copper water pipes stolen from home – Charleston
8/2010 – Copper removed from A/C unit - Charleston
8/2010 – Copper gas line stolen from home – Charleston
• Copper downspouts, copper roofing, etc., are also targeted
Physical Plant Safety, Cont.
– Copper Thefts, Continued:
• In 2007, the U.S. Department of Energy called copper
theft a $1-billion problem that was getting worse
(DOE, 2007)
• Many churches in the Charleston Atlantic Presbytery
have experienced these thefts
• Insurance deductibles are often high…severely
impacting the affected facility
Physical Plant Safety, Cont.
– Guard Against Copper Thefts by:
• Installing lights, trim shrubbery to provide visibility of
copper sources
• Protecting A/C units with locked fencing or cages – leave
room for servicing
• Consulting with alarm companies for additional
protection options
Physical Plant Safety, Cont.
– Church Vehicles and Trailers: ($ to $$$$)
• Stealing, outright
• Removal of equipment
• Vandalism
• Destruction
• Other
Physical Plant Safety, Cont.
– Church Vehicles & Trailers Theft / Vandalism Protection
•
•
•
•
•
•
Enclose vehicles / trailers with fencing
Secure vehicles with alarms and CLUB on steering wheel
Park in place visible by passing motorists / residents
Engrave / weld name onto trailers / frame or etch windows
Mark trailers with special paint-jobs, decals, lettering, etc.
Spray paint name / phone number inside of trailer in
fluorescent paint
• Obtain license plates for trailer – so serial / VIN number on
record
Physical Plant Safety, Cont.
– Church Historical Data
• Church Registers and other data for your church
• Is this information archived anywhere? Is it stored in a
secure place resistant to fire / flooding?
– Most churches only have electronic records from mid 1980’s
forward – often these are stored on media that you can nolonger retrieve
– Established back-up procedures?
– Have you identified who has copies in case of evacuation?
– Alternate storage site for all information (on line? Member
home?, Pastor, etc.?)
Physical Plant Safety, Cont.
– After doing initial Physical Plant Updates, Request a Crime
Prevention / Security Survey: ($)
• Free Audit by Charleston Police Department – previously by
Sgt. Trevor Shelor (SHELORT@ci.charleston.sc.us) or
• Use other Security Company
Privacy = Opportunity = Crime Risk
• Build “Layers” of protection to reduce risk
• Should address:
– Thefts / Vandalism / Security issues by “unauthorized persons” –
defined by CCPD as thieves, vandals, beggars, homeless persons
seeking shelter, pedophiles, non-custodial parents, violent
individuals, or curious trespassers
Corporate Safety Policies
• Develop Plans / Policies for your Church. Examples can
include ($ to $$):
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Employee Manuals
Elder Manuals
Disaster Response Plans / Hurricane Plans
Continuity of Operations Plans (COOP) – Business Continuity
Communication Plans – emergency contact teams
Member Care Plans
Credit Card Use Policy
Vehicle Driver Certification Policy – required for use of Church
vehicles when transporting members or other individuals
Corporate Safety Policies
–
–
–
–
–
Data Security Management Policies
Church Key Control Plan
Worship Service Safety Plans
Parking Lot Safety Plans
Facility Use Policy
•
•
•
•
•
Meeting Use – BSA, GSA, NA, AA, Etc.
Weddings
Funerals
Visiting Groups / Mission Groups
Facility Rentals – Other (e.g., use of gymnasium for basketball,
aerobics, etc.)
Corporate Safety Policies, Cont.
– Member Care Policies provide unified safety /
security for all members and facility users
• Covenant of Care Policy with Children, Youth, and
Vulnerable Adults (or similar) – for on-site and off-site
activities
– Training and education requirements ($ to $$)
– Background checks (DSS and National Offenders List) ($ to $$)
– Hard to achieve at all times – but necessary
Expect push-back from members – NOT POPULAR
May be required from insurance standpoint
Insurance Reviews / Audits
• Establish Committee to annually review insurance
requirements / needs for your Church. This may
include but is not limited to:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Commercial Property – Building and Contents
Hurricane / Wind & Hail
Earthquake
Commercial General Liability & Additional Liability
Coverage
Automobile Insurance
Workers Compensation
Umbrella Policy
?
Insurance Reviews / Audits, Cont.
– Understand Limits and Exclusions of Policies
• What is the deductible for each component? Can your church
budget afford a deductible of 2-12% of total value from a fire or
natural disaster?
– $50,000? $120,000? $200,000+
• Replacement Cost or Current Value?
• Loss of Income
• Who is allowed to drive Church vehicles? Are there any
restrictions or training required?
– Conduct insurance audit with Insurer – evaluate the
realities of your situation annually ($ to $$$$)
Step 2: Implementation
• Provide information and training to staff and
congregation for new policies and plans
– Keep everyone informed – Use what you already have in
place for communications in your church
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Announcements in Church
Bulletins
News letters
Church gatherings / events
Mailings
Websites
Social Networking – facebook, Twitter, etc.
– Where necessary, conduct training on the material
– Get the word out using all means available!
Step 3: Evaluation
• Conduct Annual Reviews of all plans, policies, and protocols
(at a minumum)
• Most plans are living documents – and should be modified as
circumstances warrant:
– Collect all changes and lessons learned from the year and ensure that
these changes are reflected in your planning documents and
procedures
– Review Insurance requirements relative to your existing policies
– Are all plans still necessary?
– Are there new components of your church life that needs to be
addressed?
– Have significant losses been incurred? People, financial, facility, etc.?
Did these losses change your Church operations?
Step 4: Review & Update
• Release revised plans – ensure that date stamp or
version number is incorporated into document
– Provide Education and training updates to staff and
congregations on changes – make it easy for everyone to
be informed:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Announcements in Church
Bulletins
Newsletters
Church gatherings / events
Mailings
Websites
Social Networking – facebook, Twitter, etc.
– Post finals to website (where applicable) and maintain
print copies in Church office for easy access
For More Information
• Contact Other Churches in your area for
copies of their existing planning documents
• Visit Church / Presbytery Websites for
additional ideas
• Contact Local Emergency Planners / Law
Enforcement Agencies for ideas and
information
• Contact your insurance agent for information
Thank you
For copies of this presentation or for copies of
documents discussed in this presentation, contact me
at:
Debbie Scholz
dscholz@seaconsulting.com
843-367-5126
Ms. Scholz is an Emergency Response / Preparedness Planner with SEA Consulting
Group here in Charleston, SC for more than 18+ years and is the current chair of the
Harbor View Presbyterian Church’s Administration Committee that oversees these
plans, policies and associated documents.