HSE and collection management

21 March 2025

This week, employees from Museum Nord, Nordland Museum, Helgeland Museum and Arran Lule Sami Centre gathered in Bodø for a two-day seminar related to HSE and collection management.

So you may be thinking, why do you have to think about health, safety and the environment when it comes to the management of objects, what can be dangerous about that? The answer to that is; quite a lot.

Old objects can contain substances such as asbestos and lead, substances you do not necessarily see, but by touching them, you can stir up various things that should not be in the lungs and on the skin. The actual fabric we label the objects with may have ingredients that you should not be exposed to over time.

The speakers guided us carefully through everything from asbestos, mold, pests and fire. The Working Environment Act requires us to use suitable protective equipment when we carry out different types of work, and three other keywords in collective work are planning, organisation and execution.

Much of this is known, but such seminars and subsequent collaborations between the museums will increase awareness of and focus on HSE and collection management. We also had time to get a tour of the Northern Norway Art Museum. The piece of salmon is called Screwed and made by Philipp Spillmann in 2019.  We thank you for a very interesting seminar!