Risk Management in Libraries, Archives and Museums

Libraries, archives and museums around the globe are exposed to risks stemming from environmental conditions and human-driven potential hazards. Since an emergency/disaster immediately breaks out, the four key principles of disaster management, namely preparedness, damage reduction, intervention and improvement, should strictly be defined proactively, planned and necessary measures should be taken beforehand. In a well set-up Library, Archive ( information and documentation centers) and Museum Risk Management, it is important to define the hazards and prioritize them after the assessment of the risks that may be posed by such hazards. Again based on this management system, continuous improvement through Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycles should be aimed. Risk analyses should be performed in consideration of the incidence frequency, severity and duration of emergency/ disasters; number of collection, library and archive items; number of workers; number of users; building characteristics (structural quality, quality of non-structural elements, geological condition of soil, etc.) as well as the properties of hazardous facilities surrounding the building. Separate strategies to control each risk originating from hazards (aimed at controlling the risks in the short, medium and long term) should be defined. In this study, the importance of risk analysis and risk assessment for Libraries, Archives and Museums under the Occupational Health and Safety Law no 6331 has been emphasized, and a sample risk analysis based on the 5x5 risk matrix method is presented