A Tale of Two Systems

Abstract

The two systems of managing health and safety and of managing preservation of cultural property have many parallels. Either, or both, can exist as predominantly habit-based systems. However, when managed from a proactive perspective, they can be considered goal-directed systems. In the first case, the goal is to maintain health and avoid accidents to people. In the second case, the goal is to avoid damage and loss to cultural property. Both goals are clear, widely accepted, and even inarguably noble and worthy, a great advantage for both systems. Health and safety and cultural property preservation systems will operate best when they are mutually supportive. As a simple example, wearing appropriate gloves while handling objects protects the wearer as well as the collection object/specimen from contamination. Some examples of conflicts between the two risk management systems can also be found. For instance, an old collection of pharmaceuticals can pose many risks. From a health and safety perspective, disposal seems the obvious solution. From a curatorial perspective, keeping contents intact for future analysis may be important. The exercise of developing a creative solution that protects both people and collections can lead to improved understanding among all parties. Viewing health and safety and cultural property preservation as parallel and closely related risk management systems opens the way to improvements in both. Combining the two encourages synergies that can lead to effective risk management and resource allocation by custodians of our collected heritage.

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