Otago Museum has launched a new website documenting the hidden hazards, aimed at helping curators of regional museums.
These museums sometimes house potentially dangerous items which can include asbestos, arsenic, mercury, lead and radioactive materials.
The Hidden Hazards website, supported by the Lottery Environment and Heritage Fund, provides detailed information on the dangers in collections and what staff can do to minimise harm, meet their legal obligations and ensure the proper care of historical items.
Otago Museum conservation manager Nyssa Mildwaters said the website allowed them to share the knowledge that smaller regional museums lacked to keep people in their industry safe.
"Regional museums in Otago and Southland have been crying out for resources and support around this issue for decades.
"Oftentimes, they have invaluable collections that are cared for by volunteers, and in many cases these collections have harmful substances in them.
"From arsenic to mercury to radiation, they need information to know where these substances might be and how to safeguard themselves and their visitors.
"After years of bemoaning the lack of guidance in New Zealand, we decided to do something ourselves," Ms Mildwaters said.
Otago Museum project manager Martin Bainbridge, who worked within health and safety for the University of Otago and has a 25-year hospital laboratory background, was brought on board to lead the safety project.
He approached the project with the attitude that although an accident had not happened yet, there would always be a first time it did.
"It’s important. You look at the number of people in New Zealand every year who go to work and don’t come home because they’ve died in a work-related accident. Every one of those is a tragedy and that shouldn't happen in a museum, but one day it might."
The website provides detailed risk assessment information on hazards, video guides on dealing with hazards and safety templates.
It was hard to get funding for a project like this because health and safety was "not a sexy topic", Mr Bainbridge said.
The website was a way to make it more interesting and engaging so people were aware of what is out there in museums.
It was great to be able to support local volunteers with this specialist knowledge to ensure both staff and visitors remained safe, he said.
The information will be shared nationally with museums around the country.
Mr Bainbridge will be travelling the lower South Island over the next two months, holding workshops at the 19 regional museums.
You can visit the website yourself at hiddenhazards.otagomuseum.nz
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