Blue Shield Australia MayDay Campaign
During the month of May, archives, galleries, libraries, museums, cultural heritage sites and organisations across Australia are encouraged to participate in MayDay – a national campaign for the protection of cultural heritage from disaster. Originating in the United States in 2006, the MayDay concept is promoted in Australia by Blue Shield Australia.
MayDay aims to raise awareness about disaster preparedness and to encourage people to perform at least one disaster-preparedness task in May each year. There are many types of emergencies that we can be better prepared for, from the potential impact of faulty electrical wiring in the building next door, to bushfires, cyclones or even internal or external floods. In 2009, people in cultural heritage organisations are encouraged to print the MayDay 2009 flier and post it on a notice board before 1 May.
This May, take at least one of the following steps to prepare your organisation for disaster response:
Dust off your counter-disaster plan and make sure it's up
to date (or make a timeline for developing one).
Download and use a copy of Be Prepared guidelines for writing
a disaster preparedness
plan:
http://www.collectionsaustralia.net/sector_info_item/2
Update your staff contact information.
Identify and prioritise your important collection items and
heritage sites.
Identify the three biggest risks to your collection or
heritage site.
Get to know your local fire-fighters and police invite them
to tour your organisation to give you pointers on safety
and preparedness.
Conduct a building evacuation drill and evaluate the results.
Eliminate hazards such as storage in hallways, blocked fire
exits, improper storage of paints, etc.
Make a plan to install any needed safety systems.
Find a 'partner' heritage organisation to work with in case
of a disaster. A model for collaboration is DIS-ACT:
http://www.anbg.gov.au/disact/
Provide staff with easily accessible disaster preparedness,
response and recovery information.
Arrange or attend emergency response training days on
fire-fighting, crowd control, flood water management etc., or
a workshop on disaster preparedness for collections.
Host a morning tea to raise funds for Red Cross appeals to
support those affected by floods in North and
North-West Queensland, and by bushfires in Victoria.
Consider the protection offered by your storage facilities
and plan to build safer repositories.
Via Blue Shield Australia's website, share with the cultural
heritage sector any lessons your organisation has
learned from recent disasters.
To download your copy of the MayDay flier and request a media kit for
promoting your MayDay activity or just learn how you can be involved
in MayDay 2009 contact Blue Shield Australia’s secretariat at
blueshield@collectionscouncil.com.au, or call (08) 8207 7287.