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