Safety in Museums and Galleries

Safety in Museums and Galleries is Special Supplement to The International Journal of Museum Management and Curatorship and it was originally conceived as the ""Proceedings of the Safety in Museums Meeting."" Its content is based on the meeting organized in 1985 by the Museums Association (United Kingdom), the International Institute for Conservation (IIC), and the British Museum (Natural History) to review the state of play regarding both approaches to occupational safety in museums. This book is organized into four main sections. The first section provides an overview of the legal and administrative background and discusses the developments in safety legislation in the United Kingdom in the 1970s and 1980s. The second section discusses the particular experiences met by conservators in the U.S. and the United Kingdom. The third section deals with the basic elements of hazard recognition and control. The final section covers access to health and safety information and approaches to safety training by professional organizations.

This book will be of interest to museum curators and others interested in museum safety.

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Contributors

Section 1 Legal and Administrative Framework

1.1 HASAWA - The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act: The First Ten Years

1.2 Safety Legislation for Museums, and Their Directors and Conservators

1.3 Safety Policies in Museums: Why and How

1.4 Museums and the Health and Safety Inspectorate

1.5 Liability Risk Management for Museums

Section 2 Aspects of Museum Safety

2.1 Care and Preservation of Museum Personnel

2.2 Museums and Safety: Trends and Developments

2.3 Occupational Health in Museums

Section 3 Hazards and Their Control

3.1 The Toxicology of Materials Used in Restoration and Conservation

3.2 The Containment and Ventilation of Hazardous Fumes in Laboratories, Workshops and Studios

3.3 Managing Safety in the Laboratory and Workshop

3.4 Fire Safety

3.5 Infection and Allergy in Museums

3.6 Physical Hazards in Workshops

3.7 Use of Personal Safety Devices

Section 4 Information Sources and Training in Safety

4.1 Access to Health and Safety Information for Museum Workers

4.2 Most Safe Places

Appendices

1 Safety Checklists for Use in Museums and Galleries

2 Bibliography

3 Sources of Information, Training and Legal Advice

Index