Disaster preparedness by Kim Morris of Art and Archival Pty Ltd. Presented at the 2016 Community Heritage Grants Preservation and Collection Management Training Workshops.

1. Disaster Prevention, Preparedness,
Response and Recovery
for
Collections
Presented by Kim Morris
Director
Art & Archival Pty Ltd

2. Collection Disaster Planning in Australia
A Background
♦ In 1985 the NLA suffered a catastrophic fire
♦ The NLA fire identified the need for a Collection
Disaster Plan – like all other Australian cultural
institutions of the time, they didn’t have one!
♦ The NLA became a leader in collection disaster
planning
♦ By 1988 the first NLA Collection Disaster Plan was
developed with a focus on Preparedness and
prevention
♦ Around this time it became a mandatory requirement
for cultural institutions to develop and implement
their collection emergency plans
♦ Emergency/Disaster Plans are now part of Broader
Business Continuity Frameworks
♦ Many cultural institutions now maintain a strong
focus on plan maintenance, staff awareness and
training

3. What is a Disaster
(or Collection Emergency)?
♦ A sudden or great misfortune or
calamity
♦ A sudden calamitous event
producing great material damage,
loss and distress
♦ An incident involving an
organisation and its collection
material that results in damage,
loss or restricted access.

4. Collections Management and Conservation
Disaster Preparedness Plans
♦ Supports and assists those
responsible for managing and caring
for collections, buildings and fittings
to maintain disaster awareness,
preparedness and prevention
♦ Provides policy and direction in
Disaster planning
♦ Assists in reducing risks to collection
materials and the buildings that
house them
♦ Covers all collection items, including
external objects managed by
museums and travelling exhibitions
♦ It applies to all workers, volunteers,
venues and facilities

5. Focus on Preparedness Identified Prime Risks
The Plan is a perpetual policy and manual for routine disaster preparedness
and prevention activities. It ensures effective prevention activities and
procedures are maintained to mitigate prime risks to the collection
♦Identifies key staff and their responsibilities and roles
♦Outlines key preparedness actions by collection, priority, display, storage, on
site and off site
♦Identifies supplies and their locations
♦Outlines post emergency procedures

6. Prevention and Preparedness
♦ Risks are identified and assessed
♦ Collections are prioritised
♦ Resources are identified
♦ Plans are prepared, updated and/or
refined
♦ Key roles are allocated
♦ Funding and support is identified
♦ Building maintenance and repair
♦ Good housekeeping
♦ Good storage
♦ Correct handling
♦ Staff training
♦ General staff awareness is raised
♦ Resources, equipment and supplies
are identified and put into place

7. Awareness and Training
♦ Many incidents can be reduced in seriousness or eliminated if staff are aware
and trained in:
– Good collection handling techniques
– Good collection storage techniques
– How to recognise and respond to an emergency situation
– The risks to collection material
– Good housekeeping practices
– How to recognise and report potential problems
♦ To ensure staff and volunteers remain aware of collection emergency issues,
training and refresher sessions should be held once a year
♦ Orientation training sessions for new people should include a collection
emergency awareness component
♦ Managers should ensure awareness of
collection emergency issues is
maintained

8. Know Your Buildings, Know your Region
♦  Cyclone
♦  Flood
♦  Fire & Smoke
♦  Earthquake
♦  Storm
♦  Terrorist attack
♦  Weather
♦  Sewage
♦  Water leak
♦  Poor storage & handling
♦  Mould
♦  Equipment malfunction
♦  Insect and vermin infestation
♦  Vandalism
♦  High dust levels
♦  Accident
♦  Theft
♦  Building works/alterations
♦ And many more

9. Conducting A Risk Assessment
♦ Identify those occurrences which pose the greatest threat to your
organisation and its collections
♦ Look at past incidents. Unless your building and organisation are brand
new there will be a history of past incidents
♦ Look at the building/s. Are they poorly maintained? Does the roof leak?
Plumbing may be old. Is it secure? Plant and equipment? Electrical wiring
and equipment?
♦ Look at the geographic location. Near a water source? In an unstable area?
In an area known for bad weather?
♦ Look at the way collections are housed. Are they housed below ground or
near plant and equipment and plumbing? Are they over crowded? Are
they secure?
♦ Look at the way collections are used or accessed. Are they secure? Is public
access and use supervised? Do staff know how to correctly handle
material?
♦ Re assess risk regularly or even on a daily basis as needed

10. A useful model for conducting risks
High
Probability ↑ 2 1
4 3
Low High
Effect →

11. Response
Knowing Your Responsibilities
♦ Collection emergency response can be separated into 2 phases:
– Immediate response actions
– Short term response actions
♦ Long term actions are recovery actions
♦ Assessment of the situation noting:
– if the area is safe
– source of the emergency
– if collection material is affected
– Informing people who need to know urgently

12. Emergency Supplies
Disaster Bins and other Supplies
♦ Supplies are always available and
accessible
♦ Locations are detailed in the plan
♦ Bins are located at the front of the
building
♦ As part of post response, bins and
supplies will be re-stocked and
prepared for next time

13. Supplies May Include
Material Use
Bins - plastic Catching water
Broom Cleaning up, moving water
Buckets - 10 litre Catching water, cleaning up
Dust pan & brush Cleaning up
Emergency action instructions Reference
Extension lead Flexible power source
Fire extinguisher - CO2 (side) Fighting small fire
Garbage bags - 20 pack Carrying material
Gloves – rubber Health and safety
Marker pens Marking transport boxes
Packing tape Adhering sheeting

14. Utility knife Cutting plastic, tape
Absorbent wipers Cleaning up
Absorbent paper Cleaning up, interleaving
Writing pad and clipboard Recording material movements
Pencils Recording incident / material
relocation
Marker pens Marking transport boxes
Power board Flexible power source
Extension lead Flexible power source
Torch and batteries During blackouts
Garbage bags Containing / carrying material
Plastic bags Containing / carrying material
Protective clothes, hard hats Health and safety
Tube - long plastic Directing away minor leaks
Chemical spill kit Contain spills

15. Evacuation of Material?
♦ Should collection material be
removed or evacuated when
an emergency involving it is
discovered?
♦ There is no correct
answer but this issue
should be addressed in
the plan to prevent confusion

16. Recovery (Long Term) actions
♦ Planning and decision making (options)
♦ Communication
♦ Evacuation and treatment of affected
materials
♦ Rectification of the affected site
♦ Restoration of access and services to
clients
♦ Assessment of the plan’s effectiveness
and reasons for the occurrence of the
emergency

17. Being Vigilant
Alice Springs Hail Storm, June 2016
♦Maintain your preparedness and your plan

18. General Principles
When an incident is discovered some general principles to follow are:
♦ Human safety has precedence over protection of collection material
– Make sure affected areas are safe to enter
– Do not risk personal safety to ‘rescue’ collection material
♦ Respond appropriately and urgently
– Accurately assess the situation if possible
– Report the incident to those who need to know
– If safe to do so, take action to protect collection material
♦ Know your response procedures but also use your initiative
– All staff should have an emergency help sheet
– Help sheets should be located in and on all emergency supply cabinets
and wheelie bins
♦ Seek advice and help from others
♦ Maintain communication
♦ Plan well. The faster the correct action, the better the result. So take time
to ensure you plan a correct and appropriate response