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<p class="MsoNormal">Hi Beth - we’ve done a lot around managing collection hazards at Museums Victoria – for skins, we assume they are all hazardous unless proven otherwise (especially older ones).
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">From a labelling perspective, in general we use additional “hazard” labels to note whether hazards such as arsenic are either suspected or confirmed. (We have a stock of these in two different sizes, printed on Tyvek). One side of the label
is filled out if a hazard is suspected, and a request for analytical testing is put through to our Materials Scientist. Once the hazard is confirmed (via XRF or ATR-FTIR, depending on the substance), the other side of the label is filled out as well. We use
yellow stickers on these labels too (with an exclamation mark on them), to give a strong visual indication a hazard may be present or is confirmed to be present. Hazards information is added to the object’s database record (along with personal protective equipment/handling
recommendations). <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Skin specimens are an exception to this though – we don’t attach the extra label unless they’ve been tested, as overloading with labels can cause damage to delicate feet and legs (especially birds). So instead every drawer in the skin collection
has a hazard label on it, warning that they potentially contain heavy metals. If a specimen is removed from the store it has to have a suspected hazard label applied to it before it goes anywhere else.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
We’ve developed safe operating procedures for arsenic and a number of other collection hazards (e.g. mercury, lead, asbestos, formalin) – I’ll email you our arsenic one directly. (Also happy to share it with anyone else who might find it useful!). Anyone who
will be working with affected collections or in storage areas containing affected objects is given induction training – this may include students, volunteers and researchers, if they will be working directly with collections. The Procedure includes information
about what kinds of objects might contain the hazard, the health effects, required PPE, decontamination and waste disposal methods, control strategies for handling and transport etc.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We don’t generally have separate storage areas for specimens that have been found to contain hazardous materials but sometimes make item-specific enclosures where the hazard is loose/friable (e.g. items containing asbestos will be double-bagged).
In Australia some hazards require specific and separate storage by law (e.g. some classes of poisons/pharmaceuticals, radioactive materials).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I hope this is useful!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-AU">Alice Cannon<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-AU">Acting Manager, Conservation<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-AU">Museums Victoria<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-AU">PO Box 666, Melbourne VIC 3001<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-AU">(03) 8341 7235 / 0402 041 064<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-AU">acannon@museum.vic.gov.au<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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