Archaeologists' Health and Safety 2
I read with interest the article on "Archaeologists' Health and Safety" in K.A.S. Newsletter No. 18. As someone who has been both an 'amateur' and 'professional' archaeologist in several parts of the country, I think it would be true to say safety is not given the priority it should receive. As far as diseases, Sylvia Beamon is quite correct in her statement that tetanus "is about the limit of their care and concern". I have never received any medical, and indeed very little safety advice. This is true of amateur, professional, and university excavations I have worked on. So we have a situation the length and breadth of the country where archaeologists are at risk.
However, it is far easier to point out the problems rather than to supply glib, remedies. A common answer is to say that most site health and safety is common sense. Admittedly, the "commodity" is often in short supply; perhaps a couple of examples should be given. After handling bone, lead, or cess, hands should be washed thoroughly - however, full-time archaeologists are renowned for digging out cesspits and then eating their sandwiches without washing! How many archaeologists wear safety helmets when digging out deep pits or working by the side of a trench? Increasingly, full-time archaeologists are, however, compelled by the terms of the contract to now wear safety helmets, even on shallow rural sites.
Anthrax, foot and mouth from diseased animals, sometimes even thrown into dene-holes by irresponsible farmers; Wells disease, smallpox, and toxic chemicals are all possible threats along with broken bones. However, where does all this doom and gloom lead us? Do we don protective clothing and suits of armor? Archaeologists do get injured, but looking objectively at the threat from diseases, we are far more likely to get run over by a bus than catch anthrax or lung cancer from radon gas on an archaeological site. In the latter instance, householders in the west country with double glazing are probably those most at risk.
Most full-time archaeologists are far more concerned about the mundane problems of rheumatics and 'bad backs' which have brought many an archaeological digging career to an end. It is also probably true to say far more full-time archaeologists risk their health and safety due to their personal lifestyles than to any occurrence while working.
At the end of the day, as a hardened and heartless full-time archaeological supervisor, if I see a cesspit "rich in organic matter" I can always put a volunteer into it. Our attitude at Canterbury is that volunteers are expendable and full-time archaeologists are not. My excavations for the Canterbury Archaeological Trust are in constant need of volunteers. Anyone interested in undertaking volunteer work can contact me at the Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 92a Broad Street, Canterbury.
Alan Ward.
Editor's note: In fairness to Mrs. Beamon, who is an archaeologist of international repute, author of several books, and Editor of the Journal of the society, 'Subterranea Britannica: most of her concern is for people working on underground sites, old mines, crypts, cellars, etc. and the transference of diseases by them to other sites, fields, or farmyards. She has been researching several case histories at Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, on Histoplasmosis (a 'flu-like disease) contracted by archaeologists and other people whose interests have taken them below ground or into derelict buildings. The Kent Underground Research Group, a branch of the KAS. (See 'New Books' in this Newsletter) is very aware of the dangers and holds regular health and safety advice meetings for its members, conducted by a doctor and a Red Cross tutor. It also has specialist equipment, including a gas detection kit, and a fully-trained, three-man team available on 'call-out' to any archaeologist in difficulty underground. During the four-year K.A.S. archaeological excavation at Plaxtol, a leaflet was issued to all new diggers. This included Site Safety advice, which most people obeyed. As Alan Ward points out, health and safety on site depends mainly on common sense, so surely it is sensible when entering an underground space or a derelict building where bats or birds have been roosting to cover one's nose and mouth with a handkerchief until the stirred-up dust has settled, and, if one has inadvertently trodden on something horrid or recently dead, to make sure boots do not carry its traces onto the next flock or herd of animals - or archaeologists!