Training grant – ‘Unwelcome Surprises’ at Tullie House

On 30 November 2022, Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery hosted Larry Carr, health and safety expert and specialist in hazards in museum collections, who provided a 4-hour training session titled ‘Unwelcome Surprises’.

He provided comprehensive training on where to look for hazards such as asbestos, mercury and lead in a multi-discipline museum collection. This included examples like asbestos in the filters on WW gas masks, arsenic in taxidermy, and mercy in fur-felted hats.

The training also covered what the risks are in daily work with potentially hazardous collections, and how to manage the risks with proper handling and storage precautions.

The training was attended by staff from across departments at Tullie, as well as staff from other museums in Cumbria Museums Consortium, and wider Cumbrian museums, to ensure that knowledge about hazards in collections is at a high standard across the museums in the county.

The AIM award has enabled this hugely valuable training to enhance our ability to work with our collections safely, provide engagement for visitors and care for our staff.

Jocelyn Anderson-Wood, Curatorial Manager, Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery Trust