Risk management for cultural heritage is a very complex discipline that includes all phases of the risk identification and management process. Once the risks that threaten a collection have been identified, it is necessary to decide which of these are acceptable to the organization and which are not. Acceptable risks are those for which the organization deliberately decides not to activate any treatment and mitigation procedure and therefore takes responsibility for potentially incurring that specific threat. Unacceptable risks will need to be transferred or treated. Transferring a risk means delegating responsibility for that risk to someone else: the most common method for transferring risk is the stipulation of an insurance contract. As regards the treatment of risks, however, there are 5 different possible actions to be implemented for this purpose.
Eliminate the risk
Eliminating the risk means eliminating the cause or origin of the risk to ensure that that risk is no longer applicable to the specific situation. To give an example of risk elimination, think of a museum that decides to rent its exhibition rooms for a private event in which thousands of people will participate. As is understandable, this type of event would entail a significant risk from an anthropic point of view, as it would increase the threat of theft, vandalism, entry into unauthorized areas or simply accidental damage. By deciding not to provide for the possibility of renting the museum rooms for private events, the organization would completely eliminate the risk, which would therefore no longer be relevant for that organization.
Block the risk
If the organization is not in a position to eliminate the risk, because perhaps this comes from essential activities or elements, it can activate procedures to block the agents of deterioration. In practical terms, this action consists of placing a barrier between your collection and elements that can threaten it.
Detect deterioration agents
Another method of risk treatment is to constantly carefully monitor deterioration agents that can damage the collection. Thanks to continuous monitoring, operators can react promptly in case of emergency. In addition to monitoring, however, careful planning of emergency response operations is necessary.
Emergency response
In the event that risk materializes in a real calamitous event, museum operators must be able to react promptly to the situation to secure the threatened collection. To do this it is essential to have planned in advance the various emergency procedures differentiated according to the risk.
Recovery
The last risk treatment action that can be implemented is relating to all the procedures necessary to return the institution and the collection to a normal situation. Once the emergency is over, in fact, it will be necessary to act on the damaged materials to stop the damage and restore a stable conservation condition.
