TABLA 5.6 NIVELES DE RUIDO POR JORNADA DE TRABAJO.

According to standard ISO/DIS 31000 Risk Management – Principles and guidelines on implementation (2007), written by the International Organization for Standardization, “the implementation of risk management will depend on the varying needs of a specific organization, particular objectives, context, structure, products, services, projects, the operational processes and specific practices employed” (p. 1).

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On the other hand, standard ISO 31000 (2007) establishes some principles for managing risk in a way that is more effective. The principles are:

Risk management should create value to the organization: contributes to achievements of objectives, improvement and reputation;

Risk management should be an integral part of organizational processes;

Risk management should be part of decision-making;

Risk management should explicitly address uncertainty;

Risk management should be systematic and structured;

Risk management should be based on the best available information;

Risk management should be tailored: flexible and adaptable to different situations;

Risk management should take into account human factors;

Risk management should be transparent and inclusive: involving all stakeholders and right holders;

Risk management should be dynamic, iterative and responsive to change;

Risk management should be capable of continual improvement and enhancement.

(ISO, 2007, p. 2).

Looking at these principles within the cultural heritage context, it is possible to state the following:

 Risk management helps to accomplish the main purpose of conservation, since it gives priority to actions in order to reduce hazard. In addition, risk management contributes to the more efficient administration of sites.

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 Risk management should be integrated with other management procedures at a site. In order to be efficient, risk management cannot be taken as an independent procedure within the administrative aspects of the site. It is important to consider the cultural heritage site as a “system”. This notion is already present in studies on the impacts of climate change on cultural heritage. “Although they are no doubt physical, in terms of being assemblages of built and organic materials, their significance is founded in social and cultural meanings and values. Furthermore, they are dependent on some form of social system for their management, maintenance and continuing sustainability” (Woodside, 2006, p. 8). As a system, any intervention will affect the whole. In this sense, risk management provides procedures that affect the entire system and all normal organizational processes. For this reason, risk management should be part of an integrated system of prevention.

 A risk management approach can provide a decision-making method, since it constitutes “the application of all available resources in a way that minimizes overall risk” (Waller, 2013, p. 317). For instance, this method has been used since the 1990s in museum collections in Canada and the United States. Robert Waller worked at the Canadian Museum of Nature, finding that risk management “can be used, not only to organize thoughts on any decision affecting the preventive conservation of collections, but also to provide a method for considering the most difficult decision we face – how limited resources can best be

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applied to the protection of collections” (Waller, 2013, p. 318). From the pure theory of risk management, the ultimate objective of the method is to be a tool for taking decisions in the most informed way possible.

 Risk management should explicitly address uncertainty since most of the hazards are indeed unpredictable. This is the case, specifically, for natural disasters that strike unexpectedly.

 Risk management should be systematic and structured since a cultural heritage site should also be considered as “a system similar to a social system or eco- system, dependent on human values and actions for their survival” (Woodside, 2006, p. 9). The theory of systematic approach was taken from biology. In 1928, Ludwing Von Bertalanffy defined a system as a group of elements that are related among themselves and with their context. In other words, a system is a general model with certain characteristics that are shared by a group of entities of a different nature (von Bertalanffy, 1950; 1982). In this sense, a cultural heritage site is a system and each part is interrelated. For instance, values are linked to historic materials; state of conservation is related to conservation decisions; and decisions are linked to resources available, and so on (Taylor & Cassar, 2008). For these reasons, risk management should not only be systematic itself, but also part of the general management of the site.

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 Risk management should be based on the best available information regarding the hazard, impact and vulnerability. In this sense, risk management should consider the support of results provided by research into cultural heritage. Although in a permanent state of development, this field of knowledge should generate new approaches everyday, as well as data and information regarding a variety of issues. These include the deterioration of historic materials under certain circumstances, information about the frequency and variation of hazards, methods of assessment or different possibilities for the measuring of probability. New knowledge about cultural heritage and procedures for conservation should be integrated in risk management.

 Risk management should be tailored to the realities of each cultural heritage site, since every place is different and in a continuous state of change. Cultural heritage as a system that changes over time. For example, exposure to a hazard might change, historic materials undergo modifications, or the management context might be subject to adjustments. In this sense, no one cultural heritage site is equal to another. Risk management has to adapt to each case in particular and to change accordingly with the context. Risk management should thus be dynamic and responsive to change.

 Risk management should take into account human factors since cultural heritage cannot exist apart from this. On the one hand, human values give cultural

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significance to a site yet, on the other hand, several hazards are man-made. Furthermore, decisions are taken by managers or stakeholders.

 Risk management should involve all the relevant stakeholders since an assessment of values is fundamental for having all the information available for the taking of decisions. In addition, all stakeholders are crucial for a site´s management.

 Risk management should be capable of continual improvement and enhancement according to changes affecting cultural heritage sites and the involvement of new knowledge and practices.

It is clear that risk management for cultural heritage complies with the basic principles of standard ISO 31000. In this context, risk management, as a useful instrument for preservation, should work via holistic approach to control a wide range of risk factors. Also, it should function systematically if its programs for treatment and monitoring are integrated. Lastly, it should be integrated in practices as a result of institutional management.