01/30/2025
Interested in class offering on museum health & safety?
I am writing to ask you to circulate to your students and your professional colleagues the attached DRAFT of an elective class we wish to offer this summer at George Washington University [GWU] (see below) Simply put, we need to have students and professionals who are interested in the course to *contact me* by the middle of February, 2025 If there are sufficient numbers expressing interest in the class, the GWU School of Public Health will provide a course number and offer the class. It is designed to be a hybrid once-weekly evening class meeting in person AND online via Zoom.
Thus, please share the attached course outline with your students and the museum community, and ask them to email me with their names [THIS DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE REGISTERED FOR THE CLASS, BUT ONLY THAT YOU ARE INTERESTED FOR OUR PLANNING PURPOSES.]
DRAFT Outline of Course Schedule – Wednesday evenings, 6:10 – 8:40 pm May 21 to July 30, 2025 DRAFT
This course examines the historical and current concerns about environmental exposures and the risks of illness among museum professionals, volunteers, and the public. There will be one online midclass quiz, but the biggest portion of the grade will be from your paper and presentation. Students will write a paper and make a short presentation on a topic of mutual interest during our last session This class will be 2 credits, with an option for 3 credits for museum study students.
May 21 *Introduction to the Course—Goldsmith and Hawks
· Bibliographies and technical references/resources
· Use of industrial hygiene findings and guidelines
· Overview of health and safety hazards in museum-related work, including hazards to museum staff, visitors, and volunteers
· Personal protective equipment (PPE)
· Overview of safety and safety programs: program administration, H&S committees, inspections, emergency procedures, employee/employer rights and responsibilities, Workers compensation, regulations, job hazard analysis, OSHA and OSHA Hazard communication standard, chemical hygiene programs, Material Data Safety Sheets (MSDS), and OSHA construction standard vs general industry standards (for exhibit preparations)
May 28· Overview of toxicology; toxicology of specific biological, chemical, radiological hazards as outlined in previous class; medical toxicology as it applies to museum staff and the visiting public
· Routes of entry, standard setting, risk assessment, differences between occupational and ambient/community standard
· Occupational epidemiology findings among museum workers, with a focus on women and reproductive health
· Overview of silica dust hazards in museum settings--Dr. Goldsmith and [TENTATIVE} Cusak-McVeigh
June 4 Smithsonian health and safety procedures focused on museum staff and the public.[TENTATIVE] Dr. Krahl
June 11 Visit GWU Textile Museum laboratory and observe safety and health practices and reporting procedures [TENTATIVE]--Fusco
June 18 Chemical handling, storage, labeling, with emphasis on laboratory safety and exhibit preparation; hazardous waste disposal, construction precautions, responses to climate change--Goldsmith
June 25 Pesticides and NAGPRA—Goldsmith and Hawks
Online Quiz due June 30, 8:00pm
July 2 Visit Smithsonian repatriation center, Tribal concerns, and health and safety precautions—[TENTATIVE] Krahl, tribal representative, and someone from the lab
July 9 Special topics: object testing for contaminants, NAGPRA management issues, disclosure statements for loaned objects, de-accessions, repatriation agreements, past and current pest control methods, contaminated storage, hazards in field work, exhibition safety for the public—Hawks & Makos
July 16 The role of monitoring and surveillance; hazardous exposure monitoring, biological monitoring, medical surveillance, OSHA permissible exposure standards--Goldsmith
Health hazard controls: ventilation, substitution, PPE, radiation protection, biohazards protection in the field and the laboratory. --Hawks and Goldsmith
July 23 Fire protection and safety, DC fire codes, fire protection systems, fire concerns/risks in public displays; fluid collection & storage; disaster and emergency medical situations, safety in emergency response and recovery [TENTATIVE] GWU fire coordinator
July 24 YOUR PAPERS ARE DUE by 10:00pm
July 30 Your presentations from 6:00 to 8:40pm
PLEASE contact me if you have any questions about the class (including topics we need to add).
David F. Goldsmith, PhD
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health
George Washington University
Washington DC 20052
[email protected]
(tel 202-549-1019)
