disaster preparedness - kim morris
TRANSCRIPT
COLLECTION EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
Presented by Kim Morris
Art & Archival P/L
A Bit of History
♦ Collection emergencies can occur anytime, anywhere
♦ In 1985 the NLA suffered a devastating fire that identified the need to plan for Collection Disasters
♦ No collection disaster plans existed in Australia at this time
♦ Many different types of incidents have affected cultural collections before and since
♦ Business recovery planning, risk management, insurance requirements and auditing have made disaster planning more essential
The 3 Phases of Disaster Planning
BeforePreparedness and Prevention♦ Risks identified and assessed♦ Collections prioritised♦ Resources identified♦ Plans prepared, updated and/or refined♦ Key roles allocated♦ Funding and support identified
Prevention (or risk reduction) is easy♦ Building maintenance and repair (maybe not so
easy)♦ Good housekeeping♦ Good storage♦ Correct handling♦ Staff/volunteer training
♦ General staff/volunteer awareness♦ Resources, equipment and supplies identified and
put into place
During
Response (Immediate and Short Term)♦ Identify, assess, report, attend to incidents♦ Document what’s happened♦ Stabilise situations quickly and safely♦ Develop a recovery plan
AfterRecovery (Long Term) planning
♦ Plan prioritise and make decisions♦ Protect or evacuate and treat affected collections♦ Restore access and services to clients/visitors♦ Assess of your plan’s effectiveness and reasons
for the occurrence of the emergency
9 steps to developing your disaster plan
1Identify risks that may effect your building/s
and collections Flood Fire & Smoke Earthquake Storm Terrorist (Bomb) Weather Sewage Water leak Poor storage &
handling Mould
Equipment malfunction Insect and vermin
infestation Vandalism High dust levels Accident Theft Building works/alterationsAnd many more depending on your assessment
Collection Risks
Canberra Hail Storm, January 2007
2Determine the type of materials in your
collection ♦ Books and other
bound material♦ Large and small sheet
material (unbound)♦ Artworks on paper,
canvas, and other supports
♦ Vellum, parchment and leather materials
♦ Photographic materials
♦ Electronic and magnetic media
♦ Sound recordings and film
♦ Objects (organic and inorganic)
♦ Large and small technology items
♦ Material on loan to your organisation
♦ Different collection materials can require different response and handling techniques depending on the type of incident that has affected them
3Prioritisation
There are many ways of prioritising collections:♦ Significance♦ Value♦ Uniqueness ♦ Cultural significance♦ Rarity
♦ Owned by someone else♦ And others depending on your organisation’s
collection focus and policies
Prioritisation can be a complicated process that requires good knowledge of collections, and careful consideration, debate and planning by managers and staff
A simple categorisation of collections:♦ Category 1 items: those it is essential to save♦ Category 2 items: those it would be good to save♦ Category 3 items: those that it is not essential to
save (at least in their original form)
4Determine resources that already exist on-site
♦ An established security structure♦ Good Building maintenance♦ Cleaning personnel and supplies♦ Good cleaning practices♦ Emergency supplies♦ Emergency plans, risk management reports, business
recovery and crisis management plans, etc.♦ Good storage♦ Smoke detection and Fire suppression systems♦ Fire safety precautions♦ And many more
Recommendations for improvement in established resourcescan be made based on your findings.
5Determine resources that already exist off-site
♦ The fire brigade♦ Police♦ Emergency services♦ Armed forces
♦ Government agencies and services♦ Electricity Gas and Water Companies♦ Contractors
Plans should be developed in close consultationwith the fire brigade. They may be in control of yourbuilding in the event of a major incident
6Availability of resources to make your plan
achievable♦ Funding♦ Equipment for dealing with response and recovery♦ Personnel resources♦ Outside resources
Plans must reflect reality and allow for possible shortfalls
7Write your plan
Based on the information you have gathered:♦Prevention procedures♦Preparedness procedures: key contact list with allocated responsibilities and roles♦Awareness and training policy♦Emergency equipment and supplies lists and locations♦Emergency action procedures♦Special handling instructions for affected collections♦Outside resource lists
The plan structure may vary depending on yourorganisation’s needs
8Allocate key responsibilities and tasks
♦ Committee: Policy direction, funding, decision making♦ Collection managers: Knowledge of collections,
prioritisation♦ Building manager: Building maintenance, upgrading
building, cleaning, security♦ Personnel manager: Staff and volunteers, counselling,
OH&S, training, resources♦ IT: Maintenance of computer services, data bases♦ Public relations: keeping people and media advised♦ Front of House: visitor safety♦ Collection emergency recovery team: response and
recovery
In small organisations these responsibilities may be under the control of a few people
9Maintain your plan on a regular basis
Plans can quickly become outdated and should be revised regularly to remain fully useful
Areas that need updating can include:♦ Key staff♦ Contact phone numbers♦ Outside Suppliers♦ Contractors♦ Collection priorities and locations♦ Emergency actions
An out of date plan can be useless where quick decisive action is needed