Hazards in Collections: Reducing the Risks Introduction
When you think of museum collections, undoubtedly there are some hazards in there, such as swords, halberds, spear heads and heavy items, to name but a few of the clear-cut hazards. However, it may or may not surprise you, that there are many hidden hazards in collections. Here at the Museum of Gloucester, we have tried our best to mitigate the risks associated with these hazards. As part of our commitment to reducing the risks within our collections, we were privileged to take part in the Hazards in Collections: Reducing the Risks training program which covered the following hazards: lead, arsenic, mercury, mould, radioactive substances, asbestos, controlled drugs, firearms, explosives, pressurised containers, kinetic objects and cellulose nitrate.
When assessing a collection for hazards at first it is important to know what the hazards look like in the context of the collection, such as cream/white woollen like material lining a broken wire from a 20th century social history item – seemingly harmless, or not necessarily noticed, but is most likely asbestos. There are many items within the collection which, although the Collections Team continue to develop their understanding, are not obviously a hazard. It goes to show that you don’t know until you know. One of the resources which the Museum of Gloucester Collections Team uses is the Hazards in Collections website (Hazards in Collections). However, given this opportunity to develop our understanding of hazards in the collections meant we could highlight any issues not currently understood or known.
Over the next series of blogs cited ‘Hazards in Collections: Reducing the Risks’ we will be talking about the training sessions we went on as part of the Hazards in Collections: Reducing the Risks program and the impact it has had on the museum. As part of this program, a small grant opportunity arose, in which the Museum of Gloucester was successful in being awarded. In our final blog post of this series we will be discussing the incredible impact of this grant on our understanding of the hazards within our Natural History Store and how we can manage and mitigate the risks associated with them.
This grant was awarded by Museum Development South West with thanks to funding from National Lottery Heritage Fund and Art Fund with support from Arts Council England. Without this funding we would have had to further restrict access to the Natural History Store; with this funding we have been able to mitigate risks and ensure the safety of staff, volunteers and the public.
