A disaster is an unforeseen event that causes substantial property damage and possibly death. It is therefore critical to plan for such disasters in order to reduce the amount of damage they do. A disaster management plan is a detailed set of regulations and policies that are implemented in the case of a catastrophic event in order to mitigate the consequences of these catastrophes and address damage and loss. A disaster management strategy anticipates all potential disaster scenarios and develops processes to assist limit the devastation caused by these events. The plan also gives information about tools and facilities within a museum that can help to counter the destructive effects of a disastrous event. It also highlights the responsibilities of all involved parties during an emergency, recovery procedures for all museum collections and artifacts as well as evacuation procedures for all personnel and visitors from the museum during an emergency. The end of the twentieth century also marked the end of the International Decade for National Disaster Reduction which saw the introduction of rigorous requirements and changes to safety procedures within institutions and more specifically, museums. These changes ensure that disasters and emergency situations are addressed even before they occur to ensure ample preparedness to reduce the magnitude of destruction wrought by disastrous events.
Components of a disaster management plan
A comprehensive and robust disaster management plan should be simple enough to understand for quick implementation. However, it also needs to be comprehensive enough as to cover all possible emergencies to ensure all personnel is well equipped and prepared. A good disaster management plan contains the following components.
Introduction
The introduction of a disaster management plan highlights the basic organization of the plan. This includes a summary of the contents of the plan as well as institution-specific guidelines. The introduction also shows the storage location of the plan and the personnel charged with updating and safekeeping of the plan. The introduction also indicates the frequency of updating the plan to help staff keep track of updates and altered information
Preparedness and prevention
This part of the disaster management plan highlights the policies and procedures that need to be undertaken by museum staff before the occurrence of an emergency. These procedures and policies are aimed at minimizing the risk associated with disasters. A museum needs to be prepared to preserve the artifacts and collections before an emergency situation to preserve the heritage that museums are tasked to protect.
Response
This section of a disaster management plan highlights policies and procedures that need to be undertaken in the museum after the occurrence of a disaster. These procedures are aimed at safeguarding lives and property after a disaster occurs. These procedures are each tailor-made for a particular hazard to efficiently handle the situation. The section also includes risk assessment criteria to ascertain that recovery procedures do not cause further harm to visitors, staff and the collections within the museum.
Clean-up and salvaging procedures
This section highlights the removal of destroyed particulars such as museum collections and other infrastructural structures in the aftermath of a disastrous event. It also highlights the procedures for recovery of collections of the museum that survived the disaster. The section also highlights first-response procedures in case of injuries to visitors, staff and even volunteers. These first-response procedures help museum staff to alert other non-museum personnel and other emergency response teams to the situation and thus bringing more hands on deck to help with the clean-up process. There has been a debate on the subject of museums prioritizing prized collections and artifacts over the lives of staff and volunteers. It has been established that disaster management plans in museums should give priority to human lives; visitors, staff and volunteers alike, before implementation of property recovery procedures. This decision by standardizing bodies has been implemented in numerous museums across the world as a standard of best practice in curatorship and museum management.
Institution specifics
This part of the disaster management plan describes the internal infrastructural structure of the museum. This includes floor plans and the locations of emergency supplies marked on. It also contains a list of personnel and their roles, especially about the disaster management process. Lately, it has become common practice to include descriptions of communication chains in case various news and media channels are involved. Simply adopting a plan from a different museum and adjusting it to fit required needs is not useful as each institution is unique and may experience a different set of potential disasters. A museum in California prepares more intensively for an earthquake while another on the east coast intensifies preparations for hurricanes. It is therefore crucial that a plan identifies the unique features of a museum that influence the disaster management plan.
Standards in a museum
Following the end of the International Decade for National Disaster Reduction in December 1999, museums have over time adopted and implemented measures that influence daily operations with regards to the disaster management process. These standards are aimed at improving not only the quality of services but also the quality of safety for all visitors and staff as well. These rules are expressed in the disaster management plan through effective prioritization, role allocation, training and efficient communication. Upon implementation, the plan ensures that as much as could be saved is saved, personnel is deployed efficiently, and communication channels do not collapse during an emergency situation. These practices keep the standards of service and safety in any museum at top-notch.
External bodies also externally regulate museum standards nationally. One such organization is the National Standards and Best Practices for U.S. Museums that verifies that an institution contributes to the education of the public as well as providing safety for all visitors and staff. One of the most important documents required by the body is the disaster management plan. This report is necessary so a museum can be certified as safe and has to surpass specific benchmarks to qualify. The parameters address the safety of visitors and staff, protection and evacuation procedures, scope of emergencies addressed and allocation of responsibilities in emergencies.
Restoration
In the aftermath of a disaster, the infrastructure and valuables of a museum may be destroyed. Artifacts and collections that have not undergone extensive damages and can be restored are sorted from the rubble. The museum then undergoes a process of restoration on the physical building and other infrastructural facilities that may have been damaged by the disaster such as power lines and water supply systems. Upon completion, the collections are then put back up, and the museum opened to the public. This is an important purpose of any disaster management program; that the affected institution is restored to its original state before the disaster. Funding for the process of restoration is also part of the disaster management plan. This is because the process needs not to offset the financial position of the museum that may prevent reopening of the said facility. These funds may be sourced from the government, various companies and even wealthy citizens that may be willing to sponsor the restoration process.
Practice exercises
Emergency situations occur without any warning. Preparing for such events require that staff members react to the situation with composure to prevent panic that slows the process of disaster management in emergency situations. It is thus important that staff members within the museum are conditioned to dealing with such emergency situations. This is accomplished by implementing practice exercises or drills during random times of the day. These drills equip the staff with skills that may prove useful in dealing with emergencies. This is an important part of any disaster management plan as it also gives information to the public on how to react and deal with emergencies. It also enables management of a museum to adjust the plan accordingly with every new information acquired after a drill. The administration can identify defects in the current plan and rectify the faults thus contributing to a comprehensive and robust disaster management plan.
Long-term emergencies
Certain circumstances occur without warning and last for a long while. Such long-term emergencies could be the sudden loss of funds or a sudden change in the social environment. These factors could lead to the indefinite closure of a museum, and it is imperative that museum management develop a plan for such situations. These long-term emergency situations leave the institution without enough funds to operate or even maintain. The administration needs a plan to source funds for the maintenance of the museum and also employ the services of part-time employees to help in the daily management of the museum to help preserve the artifacts and collections.
Structural adjustments
For a museum to assure safety not only for artifacts and valuable collections but also for visitors and staff, the physical structure of the museum needs to be altered accordingly to reduce the chances of serious damage in case of a disaster situation. A museum-wide sprinkler system that starts once sensors detect smoke and flames helps to reduce the damage caused by a fire upon valuable collections and even allows people enough time to evacuate from the burning building. Other similar emergency systems include an automatic gas shutoff system that helps to reduce the chances of a gas explosion and electrical fuses that cut off the power in case of electrical hazards. Furthermore, valuable artifacts and collections need to be stored behind strong reinforced concrete walls to reduce both the risk of theft and destruction by collapsing debris after an emergency situation. The design of the physical structure of the museum should also be such that evacuation procedures are not hampered. Emergency exits need to be strategically located along the entire museum to allow orderly and efficient evacuations thus minimizing the risk on human lives that disaster situations present. Collections need to be placed high up above the ground to prevent water damage to these collections in the event of a flood or hurricane that brings plenty of water indoors. Artifacts made of organic materials need to be covered by special Plexiglas to prevent damage by humidity, oxidation or even natural decay. These structural alterations are a useful component of any disaster management plan as they ensure the structure is well protected from some of the harmful effects of disaster situations even before emergency response procedures are implemented.
Environmental monitoring
To account for all possible scenarios, museum technical staff needs to implement procedures to keep track of environmental changes both within and beyond museum walls. Climate patterns of the resident area need to be understood to plan more efficiently. A museum in a landlocked state cannot prepare for hurricanes and tsunamis as the events are not prevalent in the museum's resident location. Furthermore, the interior environment of the museum requires to be monitored and regulated to prevent damage to collections by environmental agents such as humidity, light and even pests. Analyses are conducted from time to time to ascertain the correct environmental conditions for storage areas and display galleries are up to the standards dictated by the collections' environmental requirements for survival.
Insurance
Insurance is an important plan for any disaster management plan. It is essential to the survival of the museum after a disastrous occurrence that an insurance service provider covers the museum. Insurance covers are available for a wide variety of risks that include natural disasters, and even some human-made emergencies. These insurance covers fund the restoration process of the museum after a disaster. This makes sure that the museum can resume guard and display of the heritage that museum artifacts and collections bear. The insurance also covers certain valuable collections and legal liabilities accrued to staff members, volunteers, and visitors. It is, however, important to conduct extensive consultations between museum officials and insurance service providers to ensure that the museum receives an insurance cover tailored to its specific needs. This ensures that the museum can return to its former state in the aftermath of a disaster.
Conclusion
Disaster management is a significant factor to consider in the daily operations of a museum. There is a need for a comprehensive disaster management plan for any museum for the protection of not only the visitors' and staff's lives but also the heritage is borne by the artifacts and collections in the museum. The plan has to ensure proper prioritization, communication, and coordination during an emergency situation to ensure effective and efficient handling of the emergency situation. The plan also has to be tailored to suit the specific needs of the museum to cater for any possible scenario as disasters are almost always unprecedented.
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