Current Approaches, Solutions and Practices in Conservation of Cultural Heritage
A Comprehensive Approach to Occupational Health and Safety Planning: Considering Material Analyses in Restoration and Conservation Studies
Hazal Özlem Ersan EruşOccupational health and safety in restoration and conservation works is considered only as repair or constructional works due to the action of these projects, but this approach will be incomplete especially for these projects where exposure to hazardous substances is a significant risk. In addition to organizing the methods to be used during the works, areas, materials, scaffolding and similar items according to current standards and international admissions, a work safety program is created during these repairs according to the qualities of the materials contained in the works, ensuring that the precautions to be taken are complete. It is very important to determine the hazards and risks correctly for each work and to plan the occupational safety measures according to these completely determined hazards as the hazards and risks may differ from project to project. Accurate analysis of the authentic or repair materials that constitute the architectural heritage, art objects, movable or immovable cultural assets and the comparative evaluations of the obtained results will both ensure that appropriate restoration and conservation practices to be carried out and that correct occupational health and safety measures to be taken during these implementations. Cultural assets contain construction technologies and materials from different periods and many materials whose damage was not known at the time of their manufacture appear as a danger in today’s restoration-conservation works. Starting the restoration and conservation projects without determining these hazardous materials and including these determinations in occupational safety studies may expose dangers and risks that may even affect public health, depending on the scale of the project. In this study, the importance of material analysis for the complete planning and implementation of occupational health and safety in restoration and conservation projects is addressed with measures that can be taken according to the results of correct evaluation and material analysis.