TheNational Association of Archaeologists has developed a vademecum that describes the risks to whicharchaeologists are exposed when working in extreme environmental situations, what protections the law provides in those situations, what tools are useful in defining the concrete risk, and what behaviors should be adopted to work safely.
Climate change is increasingly causing intense and dangerous weather phenomena for workers, such as “heat waves.” Archaeologists often find themselves working outdoors during these extreme weather phenomena, during which the worker’s health is put at risk by the often extreme temperatures, especially on archaeological sites where they sometimes work in contact with moving mechanical equipment (diggers, bulldozers), which raises the temperature of the surrounding environment, wearing bulky PPE, frequently in open areas with no shady parts in the immediate vicinity.
Here is the vademecum of the National Association of Archaeologists.
Image: archaeological excavations at Harzhorn in Germany (ph. Credit Axel Hindemith)
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Archaeology profession vademecum: risks from high temperatures |
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