Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-15T21:46:29.707Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Applying Risk Management Concepts from CRM and the Outdoor Recreation Industry to Academic Archaeology Projects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2021

William A. White III*
Affiliation:
University of California, Berkeley, 2251 College Avenue, Berkeley, CA94720, USA
*
(wawhite@berkeley.edu, corresponding author)

Abstract

Field safety is being taken more seriously across the cultural resource management (CRM) industry as CRM companies seek to be in compliance with their clients’ health and safety programs and to keep employees safe. Many universities also have organizational health and safety programs designed to protect students and employees, but academic archaeology is routinely conducted without adequate risk management planning. Risk management will be a workplace concern for aspiring archaeologists after graduating from college, which is why it is important for academic archaeology to meet industry standards. Archaeology can learn a great deal about fieldwork risk management from the outdoor recreation industry, which emphasizes building leadership skills rather than following proscribed rules and regulations to mitigate the myriad hazards in the field. This article provides some suggestions that academic archaeologists can use to apply risk management concepts from CRM and the outdoor recreation industry to academic projects in order to comply with university requirements and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), as well as to teach students how to be safe in the field.

La seguridad en el campo está tomando mayor importancia dentro de la industria de gestión de recursos culturales (CRM), esto se debe a que las empresas de CRM buscan cumplir con los programas de salud y seguridad de sus clientes. Muchas universidades además cuentan con programas organizacionales de salud y seguridad diseñados para proteger a los estudiantes y empleados. Sin embargo, la arqueología académica generalmente se realiza de manera rutinaria y sin una planificación adecuada de la gestión de riesgos. La gestión de riesgos será una preocupación laboral para los aspirantes a arqueólogos después de graduarse de la universidad, por lo que es importante que la arqueología académica cumpla con los estándares de la industria. Tanto la industria de CRM como la academia pueden aprender mucho de la industria de recreación al aire libre en lo referente a la gestión de riesgos del trabajo de campo, pues posee gran cantidad de datos sobre peligros, lesiones al aire libre y una vasta experiencia en el manejo de estudiantes en el campo. Este artículo proporciona algunas sugerencias que los arqueólogos académicos pueden utilizar para aplicar conceptos de la industria de recreación al aire libre y de gestión de riesgos de CRM en proyectos académicos, a fin de cumplir con los requisitos de la universidad y requisitos Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) y enseñar a los estudiantes cómo mantenerse seguros en el campo.

Type
How to Series
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for American Archaeology

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES CITED

ACRA (American Cultural Resources Association) 2020 Safety and Human Resources for CRM during COVID-19. Webinar hosted by the American Cultural Resources Association (ACRA), April 30, 2020. Hosted by Charity Touchette and Daniel Cassedy. ACRA, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Davis, Kaitlyn E., Meehan, Pascale, Klehm, Carla, Kurnick, Sarah, and Cameron, Catherine 2021 Recommendations for Safety Education and Training for Graduate Students Directing Field Projects. Advances in Archaeological Practice 9:74–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eifling, Kurt P. 2021 Mental Health and the Field Research Team. Advances in Archaeological Practice 9:10–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emerson, Matthew C. 2021 Toward a Safe Archaeology Field School: Insights into Policies, Procedures, and Team-Based Learning. Advances in Archaeological Practice 9:66–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gookin, John, and Leach, Shari (editors) 2009 Leadership Educator Notebook: A Toolbox for Leadership Educators. National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), Lander, Wyoming.Google Scholar
Leemon, Drew, Mettenbrink, Katie Baum, and Schimelpfenig, Tod 2019 Risk Management for Outdoor Leaders. National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), Lander, Wyoming.Google Scholar
NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) 2020 Risk Management Training Workshop Handbook. National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), Lander, Wyoming.Google Scholar
OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) 2020a COVID-19. Electronic document, https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/covid-19/standards.html, accessed May 1, 2020.Google Scholar
OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) 2020b Trenching and Excavation Safety. Electronic document, https://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha2226.pdf, accessed November 14, 2020.Google Scholar
Peixotto, Becca, Klehm, Carla, and Eifling, Kurt P. 2021 Rethinking Research Sites as Wilderness Activity Sites: Reframing Health, Safety, and Wellness in Archaeology. Advances in Archaeological Practice 9:1–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scerri, Elanor M. L., Kühnert, Denise, Blinkhorn, James, Groucutt, Huw S., Roberts, Patrick, Nicoll, Kathleen, Zerboni, Andrea, Orijemie, Emuobosa Akpo, Barton, Huw, Candy, Ian, Goldstein, Steven T., Hawks, John, Niang, Khady, N'Dah, Didier, Petraglia, Michael D., and Vella, Nicholas C. 2020 Field-Based Sciences Must Transform in Response to COVID-19. Nature Ecology and Evolution 4:15711574. DOI:10.1038/s41559-020-01317-8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
University of California 2019 Field Operations Safety Manual. University of California Office of the President—Environmental, Health, and Safety. Electronic document, https://www.ucop.edu/safety-and-loss-prevention/environmental/program-resources/field-research-safety/index.html, accessed May 1, 2020.Google Scholar
Webster, Chris, McDevitt, Heather McDaniel, Rocks-Macqueen, Doug, Wagner, Stephen, and White, William 2020a CRM in the COVID-19 Era and Beyond. In The CRM Archaeology Podcast (podcast), March 25. https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/crmarchpodcast/186, accessed May 1, 2020.Google Scholar
Webster, Chris, McDevitt, Heather McDaniel, Rocks-Macqueen, Doug, Wagner, Stephen, and White, William 2020b Surviving the 2020 Recession. In The CRM Archaeology Podcast (podcast), April 8. https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/crmarchpodcast/187, accessed May 1, 2020.Google Scholar