4. Disaster management
Disaster planning is a high priority for the State Library and Archives of Tasmania with procedures and plans in place which are reviewed regularly.
The main way that we safeguard our collections for an emergency is through disaster management. This involves having prevention strategies including identifying and mitigating risks, responding accordingly and undertaking recovery activities to return services back to as “normal” as possible.
Key stages in disaster management
The four key stages in disaster management are outlined below.
1. Prepare
- Develop Site Emergency Management Plans that identify key personnel, responsibilities, supplies, and required staff training.
2. Prevent
- Identify and assess risks, determine disaster likelihoods, and implement mitigating strategies for collection safety. Risk assessments are reviewed every six months.
- Regularly review collection storage areas to remove and reduce risks.
- Store items as safely as possible, with an emphasis on identified priority items.
- Keep emergency stores up to date and view annually.
- Maintain accessible off-site copies of information on collection locations.
- Regular staff training in emergency prevention, response and recovery and covered in new staff inductions.
- Ensure building works and contract staff:
- prevent and manage risks to our collections
- reduce risks associated with building works and other contracted activities
- know steps to take if an incident does occur.
3. Respond
- Minimise the consequences during a disaster event, such as protecting or moving collections.
- For non-critical incidents that may affect personal safety, warning signs may be displayed, or areas roped off.
4. Recover
- Minimise disruption and restoring services to “normal”, while acknowledging realistic post-disaster recovery limitations.