Local councils must see the church as a potential partner in their attempts to reduce risks in the community, urged Alarm, the national forum for risk managers in the public sector.
The warning follows a Church of England report accusing local government of ignoring the faith communities' contribution to cultural life.
Alarm said it believed that in working together on various projects, local government bodies such as community councils, safety groups and planning departments should work with faith communities to better manage the growing risks facing communities.
Alarm chair-elect Carolyn Halpin said: “Alarm is a great advocator in partnership working and believes that the church is a valuable ally for the risk management cause.
“Ignoring the good work and valuable contributions they make could pose a risk in itself – the more manpower and agencies we have promoting the importance of risk management initiatives the greater our chance of improving risk situations.
“We must embrace the offer of help and support from others in all situations, and this can rarely be truer than in the case of managing risk.
“Local government works frequently with multi-agency bodies at all levels within their community and must see the church as one of their potential partners.”
