Quaker A-Z: R is for Recycling and Risk assessments

2013 06 02 planted up recycling boxesThis is part of the Quaker Alphabet Project – click here for more information.

R is for Recycling

Does your meeting house have recycling areas for goods accepted by the local council?

Are there other things that can be recycled?

  • Postage stamps (not the standard queen’s head) QPSW Stamp Club are sold to support Quaker work.
  • Furniture be collected and recycled by a local group such as Quaker Social Action?
  • Composting material can be brought in by members of the meeting who aren’t able to compost at home.
  • Left over building materials can be donated to local projects such as allotments.
  • Old bins and recycling boxes (even if made of un-recyclable plastic) can be used as planters – as seen above!

Reusing is another way to ensure that items don’t end up in land fill – so a Quaker sale of pre-loved books and other items can bring people into the meeting house, raise money for Quaker work and help people to live more simply with less possessions.

Colchester meeting hold a highly successful sale, complete with refreshments and lunch every year.

R is for Risk Assessments

What is a Risk Assessment?

I often hear that these haven’t been done – because people don’t know what they are, or don’t know how to do them and or don’t know who to ask.

According to the Health & Safety Executive HSE

As part of managing the health and safety of your business you must control the risks in your workplace. To do this you need to think about what might cause harm to people and decide whether you are taking reasonable steps to prevent that harm. This is known as risk assessment and it is something you are required by law to carry out.

A risk assessment is not about creating huge amounts of paperwork , but rather about identifying sensible measures to control the risks in your workplace.

Although if you have less than five employees you aren’t legally obliged to write anything down – it is still good practice, and knowing that Premises committees change members on a regular basis it ensures that the research and work done isn’t lost.

There is lots of help and advice about these issues. The HSE has sections on their website including downloadable templates and guides – and examples such as this one for a village hall, which can be adapted for Meeting Houses.

Once the risk assessment has been written it needs to be used – there should be a yearly reminder to review and renew all assessments, then work on any action points that arise.

To browse through all of the posts click on the Quaker A-Z link here or in the side bar.

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