Anthropic risk on cultural heritage is unfortunately still a very frequent threat which can also irreversibly damage the assets involved. When we talk about anthropic risk, we are referring to all those actions focused on directly and voluntarily damaging the assets of a museum.

In practical terms, for the purposes of risk analysis, when we talk about anthropic risk we are referring to a series of specific threats, including theft, vandalism, terrorism, armed conflict, and unauthorized entry.

The specific case of armed conflict

In the particular cases of museums located in war zones or with serious socio-political imbalances, individual institutions, unfortunately, have a marginal role in the protection of cultural heritage. The risk mitigation measures that can be implemented in this case are very few and not very effective if they are not supported by the practical intervention of national governments, and international and humanitarian organizations.

Anthropic risk mitigation actions

As regards other risks, it is possible to implement some specific mitigation measures that allow the institution to protect the collection and significantly reduce the probability of these actions occurring. Below we will see some of them.

Outside the building

To carry out an effective check on the resistance capacity of a collection to anthropic risk, it is best to start from the external condition, then move on to the building, and then finally concentrate on the protection structures of the individual assets.

A simple measure to implement externally to protect museum assets is to install, and frequently maintain, perimeter protection of the building. Perimeter protection means any structure or device that represents a first barrier to entry into the building area. For this purpose, walls, gates and fences, motion sensors, cameras, and much more can be used. Furthermore, these measures also have a deterrent purpose and discourage criminal behaviour.

A fundamental measure for the protection from anthropic risk to be implemented outside the building is to carry out frequent checks of the external structures and of any breakages or damage. In fact, damage to the gate, doors and windows could facilitate unauthorized entry into the building.

Finally, if possible, it would be a good idea to equip the museum with an electronic surveillance system, with closed-circuit cameras. Be careful though: there are often cases of institutions that, despite having a camera system, do not have personnel responsible for checking the images or do not carry out frequent maintenance of the devices. In both cases, the effectiveness of the control system is undermined, to the point of not being considered an active countermeasure. Furthermore, especially to allow the correct use of external cameras, it is a good idea for the entire area involved to be properly illuminated.

Inside the building

The first measure to avoid unauthorized entry of people into a building is obviously to set up an anti-intrusion alarm system that protects all openings towards the outside. For a museum, whose prerogative is to be open and visitable, it is impossible to prevent the entry of people from outside during the opening hours to the public. For this reason, it is essential to protect with the help of an alarm system all those areas that represent a potential target for criminal actions, such as art deposits, vaults and staff offices. In fact, for better protection of the works and classified documents of a museum, it is always advisable to provide a compartmentalization of the alarm system. In this way, the system can be activated and deactivated only in certain areas of the museum, ensuring greater safety for all those places where public entry is not expected.

For more effective management of anthropic emergencies, it would be a good idea to take some precautions, especially in the entrance area of the museum. In particular, it is a good idea to illuminate the entrance area well and always monitor it, with cameras or with the use of security forces. Furthermore, a very useful device is the panic button, a button usually placed under the cash register which, if pressed, immediately alerts the police of an intrusion or criminal action taking place inside the museum.

In any case, even in the absence of technological security devices, the measure that best allows us to prevent and manage this type of threat is the education and training of internal staff. Being able to recognize a dangerous person or behaviour, being able to predict possible criminal actions and knowing how to handle these types of situations can really make a difference.

Artworks protection devices

The last level of protection is that represented by all the devices that directly protect the works of art. Again, there are a multitude of devices that can be used for this purpose. To cite a few examples, you can use blocking hooks that prevent the dismantling of a work, shatterproof display cases, movement detectors positioned near the work, and so on.

Even in this case, many devices that are perhaps not very effective in themselves for the protection of works can be used as deterrents and discourage any potentially dangerous action for that asset.