A risk assessment is used to evaluate the likelihood of various potential threats (individual threats such as fire, theft etc.) and determine the extent of the damage that could be caused. This identifies the risks relevant to the institution in question. It is important to include all staff in the risk assessment as everyone is best placed to estimate the risks for their own areas. The link takes you to a form which you can use to perform a simple risk assessment. For a more detailed risk assessment, it is advisable to consult an expert.

Risk assessment form

The results of the risk assessment should be evaluated in such a way that you obtain a clear picture of what potential damage is most likely to occur in your institution and what the extent of that damage will be. This will produce a list of risks in the following order: first risks with a high probability of occurrence and also with a high level of potential damage, followed by risks with a high probability of occurrence and a low level of potential damage, and finally risks with a low probability of occurrence and a low level of potential damage. The prevention measures for each of these respective risks must be reviewed and enhanced if necessary.

A risk assessment must be repeated regularly (i.e. every two years) as a change in circumstances will have an impact on the likelihood of a potential threat occurring and the potential damage. As the basis for drafting an emergency plan, the cycle of risk assessment ? evaluation ? rectification of deficiencies ? repeated risk assessment etc. should be repeated until all deficiencies have been rectified.

An emergency plan for institutions holding collections is a means for preparing the institution for emergencies and making them "plannable". In contrast to other types of emergency plans, it is not only concerned with safeguarding people, but is especially focused on protecting cultural property, for which there are no statutory regulations. It comprises an organizational outline listing the most important measures for protecting objects, along with agreements and instructions on how to proceed in an emergency. An emergency plan includes plans and agreements concerning fundamental principles, internal organization, external organization, instructions for emergency measures, instructions for clearing the building and evacuating the collection, plan for restoration, precautions, building and escape routes. The introduction should set out the responsibilities of management and the purpose of the emergency plan, staff training and drill frequencies, the financial resources, dissemination of the plan, informing new employees, and updating the plan. The emergency plan is supplemented by various annexes. The individual components for these areas and the annexes required for an emergency plan can be found in a document (see link below). It is necessary to revise an emergency plan regularly in order to update it and add experience gained from drills and actual practice. Care should be taken when drafting the emergency plan to ensure that the language used and the illustrations enable the reader to quickly grasp the information even when under stress and time pressure. Every emergency plan should be preceded by a detailed risk assessment, the results of which have been evaluated and implemented, and which is regularly repeated in order to produce an emergency plan tailored to your own institution. You can find a sample risk assessment in question 1.

ICOM - Guidelines for Disaster Preparedness in Museums

Components of an emergency plan

All staff must be informed of plans that affect them. Such notifications should be documented. Staff should be informed of the current status of the emergency plan at regular intervals (every six months, or immediately after updates). It is vital not only to make the plans available, but to ensure that staff remain aware of them. The emergency plan must specify how often notifications should be issued, who must be notified, and by whom. Bear in mind that sensitive data should not necessarily be circulated to everyone. It is possible to specify a different level of information for various user groups. Individuals always require information relating to their function in the emergency team (e.g. collection team staff will require details of evacuation procedures). Everyone listed in the telephone lists requires their own copy so they can contact other helpers immediately if necessary (from home or en route).

The emergency plan should be reviewed every six months to check that it is up to date. For every relevant change in circumstances (e.g. exhibition rebuild, staff changes, restructuring, structural or organizational changes), the impact on risk management must be considered and the emergency plan updated accordingly. Even temporary situations (e.g. building works, temporary exhibitions, events etc.) must be taken into account. The risk assessment should be revised or redrafted once a year.

All staff (i.e. also external security personnel) should document accidents and other events. This documentation will be forwarded to the person responsible. A sample form for documenting accidents and the like can be found in the knowledge data base (see link).

Form for reporting and documenting incidents

The following people should be included in the crisis team:
- Emergency coordinator (crisis team leader)
- team leaders for individual areas (security, building services, science/collection management, restoration, administration, public relations, IT/communications, works council)
- security staff/security firms
- auxiliary staff.
The director of the institution is always responsible.
The crisis team should meet every quarter and organize its cooperation. It is responsible for:
- Drafting/updating the emergency plan and all its components
- initiating all necessary measures during and following an emergency
- informing new employees
- conducting regular drills with all staff.

Security staff/guards or the "first person on the scene" who will be notified in an emergency must have the contact data for all relevant people. The lists must be updated regularly (at least twice a year) and every time there is a personnel change. To ensure this works correctly, deputy chains for 3 to 5 people should be specified for all relevant functions on the emergency telephone list.

Sample: Alarm telephone list

You should communicate with relevant external organizations every six months. This could be in the form of a meeting in person or a written communication containing specific information that has been agreed.

The crisis team is responsible for drawing up an evacuation plan giving object-specific or material-specific instructions for the appropriate form of evacuation. The plan defines the tasks of the people involved in the evacuation and specifies arrangements for access to (display case) keys. To prepare for an evacuation incident, sufficient suitable means of transport, materials and storage sites must be available. Any evacuation must be logged. A sample form can be found at the link below. Ideally, all objects should be evacuated. However, since this is often not possible due to a lack of time, the order of evacuation should be specified in a priority list. The following criteria may be used for the priority list: 1. Cultural/historical importance, 2. Financial value, 3. Owned or on loan, 4. Physical condition (too fragile for evacuation). The list should be drawn up on a room-by-room basis (taking account of fire compartments) and should contain the following details for each object: inventory number, object designation, location in the room, a photo if possible, the equipment/materials required for evacuation, possibly a ground plan showing the evacuation route (especially in the case of very large objects). Prioritized objects should be marked at the same time. Anti-theft measures should also be taken, e.g. adding a suffix to the inventory number which is only recognized by those in the know. It may be expedient to draw up separate lists for different types of emergency, as objects react differently to fire, water, changes in climate, etc. For practical reasons it is advisable to maintain the priority list(s) as a loose-leaf collection in a folder and to laminate the individual pages. They should be stored not only together with the emergency plan, but should also be accessible at various secure places. The evacuation plan and the associated priority list(s) must be updated following all changes (location of objects, room divisions, new contracts for external storage facilities etc., new valuations of objects, additions, loans). They should therefore always be date-stamped. The emergency plan should specify how often updates are to be performed and who is to perform the updating.

ICOM - Guidelines for Disaster Preparedness in Museums

Evacuation form

In particular the following materials are required in the event of a catastrophe:
- protective equipment (clothing, gloves, face masks, etc.)
- packing materials (films, towels, boxes, adhesive tape, etc.)
- tools (tweezers, brushes, scalpels, magnifiers, hammers, screwdrivers, wrenches, bolt cutters, drill, glass suction cups, etc.)
- stationery/documentation materials (pens, paper, adhesive labels, camera, dictating machine, etc., documentation forms)
- means of transport (hand-cart, trolleys, etc.)
- technical aids (torches/halogen floodlights, bag sealers, ventilators, dehumidifiers, pump/wet&dry vacuum cleaner, barrier tape, etc.)
- emergency case for attacks with chemical substances.
The materials should be stored at various strategic places in order to be readily accessible in an emergency. It is expedient to place emergency boxes in or around the building. The materials should be ordered according to their intended use; handy emergency cases containing all the equipment necessary for one team facilitate deployment. Tool carts are expedient for larger items of equipment. Consider the accessibility of rooms (stairs, narrow doorways!). Additional supplies can also be stored in material stores further away. Seals, straps or secure fastenings prevent materials being thoughtlessly removed. However, the supplies should not be locked away so they remain quickly available to all helpers in an emergency. Regular checks should be carried out to ensure all the materials are still there and to replace any out-of-date materials (adhesive tape, batteries, rubber gloves, etc.) promptly.

Before an emergency occurs it is necessary to determine where (parts of) collections can be stored temporarily. Several options should be available, as sometimes temporary use is not possible. The sites selected could belong to your own institution (another building or different part of the same building) or may belong to other institutions nearby. If the institution does not own these storage facilities, contracts for their use in an emergency should be agreed with the owners. The emergency storage facilities should be as close as possible in order to avoid time-consuming transport routes. Make sure the objects will be safe in the event of fire. In some situations it may be necessary to first move the collection to a neighboring school, sports hall, church or similar facility which is not sufficiently secure and is usually not air conditioned. In such cases arrange for security guards immediately (plan for this before an emergency arises!) and then move the collection to a suitable building as soon as possible.

A fire drill involving exiting the building should be held at least once a year. Other emergency situations should also be practiced once a year. In addition, "dry runs" around a table, where all the participants have to describe their duties in a given emergency situation, offer the opportunity to learn and practice all the necessary aspects without any time pressure. All drills must be evaluated in order to identify any gaps in the emergency plan and adapt it to the institution's own specific situation. The emergency plan stipulates what exercises are to be carried out, how often, in what way, and with what objective.

Any changes (e.g. to the architecture, personnel, structures or organization) can have an impact on the security policy. Every relevant measure should therefore be incorporated in the policy immediately. All the elements from the risk assessment through to the individual elements of the emergency plan must be reviewed and updated where necessary. The need for this process of reviewing and updating must be communicated to all staff who make or implement decisions about changes.

Lending items to other institutions creates additional risks for the objects in question. All the risks must therefore be considered in advance and must be taken into account in any lending decision, and also when subsequently deciding on the shipping and presentation of objects, as well as any preparations or follow-up. To assess the proposed loan, a standardized facilities report to obtain information about the following should be used:
- General information about the institution (type of institution, contact person, restorers, etc.)
- Building (building materials, year built, type of construction, construction projects/renovation work, access/floors etc.)
- Exhibition (room division, use, capacity, presentation systems/materials, etc.)
- Handling of objects (personnel etc.)
- Pests (pest controls, quarantine, etc.)
- Shipping (security measures, packing, etc.)
- Storage (storage area and conditions)
- Environmental conditions (heating/air conditioning, climate control systems, temperature/humidity measurement, etc.)
- Lighting (natural light/sunlight, artificial light/light sources)
- Fire safety (fire and smoke alarm system, testing/maintenance, fire extinguishers, fire service, etc.)
- Anti-theft measures (guards, visitor checks, intruder alarm system, security systems, object surveillance, exterior perimeter security, etc.)
- Emergency planning (risk assessment, emergency plan).
Information and templates are available from the Exhibition Planning working group of the German Museums Association (Lending).
The initiative "Lending to Europe" holds a wide range of detailed information, including a checklist for a facilities report (page 66, see links).

Lending to Europe: Recommendations on collections mobility for European Museums

Exhibition Planning working group of German Museums Association (Lending): Template for a facilities report and a condition log

A complete inventory of all objects is essential for systematic emergency planning, for safeguarding and salvaging in an emergency, as well as for tracing and identifying objects or repairing damage after a disaster. Along with the basic data (inventory number, photo, description, artist, title, year), other relevant information to be provided in the inventory include an object's location (building, room, position), material composition and a description of its condition as well as dimensions, weight and shipping specifications. See the links for further details and information.

Collection management working group, Documentation section of German Museums Association

German Museums Association: Documentation of museum pieces

Although such documentation cannot replace originals, in the event of loss or damage it provides a valuable source of information and can be helpful for tracing, salvaging, repairing, replacing or reconstructing objects. Backup copies of the data should therefore be stored separately (in a different building from the original) and copies of catalogs must be kept off-site. For sites where documentation is to be stored, a risk assessment analogous to that for storage/exhibition rooms should be carried out and appropriate protective measures implemented. All the relevant risks (e.g. fire, flood, theft etc.) must be taken into account.

To check your collection is complete, an inventory audit should be conducted regularly (at least once a year). It should be checked that exhibits are present at least once a day.

Hanna Pennock: Zur Sicherheit in Museen der Niederlande (p. 18 ff.)