Hello again

 

This query got significantly fewer responses than the IWB vs projector one.

 

The most useful response was a link to this American science centre website http://www.sciencenter.org/visit/sickpolicy.asp Apparently lots of US museums have sick policies on their websites

 

Another response stated

‘I can't imagine anyone being so unbelievably stupid as to expose children who are clearly infectious either to other children or to bring them into a public place generally, given  that, as you say, chickenpox is potentially very serious to certain groups of people.  Having caught chickenpox from a child on a school visit to my museum - and was very ill as a result, never having had it as a child - I feel quite strongly about this!  Even if an adult has caught it previously, the virus can still trigger nasties such as shingles.’

 

There don’t seem to be any UK museums with sick policies but it does seem to be an issue that comes up from time to time especially in response to public health scares such as swine flu. Perhaps it is something that UK museums should consider in the future. I am going to share my findings with our management team and see what they say. Should I end up writing such a policy then I will share it with the GEM list.

 

Thanks

Laura

 

 

 

In one of our family sessions today a mother told a member of staff that her son was recovering from chicken pox and that her daughter had just started to display symptoms. They were the only family in the session at the time and after they left our staff sanitized the tables etc. However this has raised a few questions for us. Whilst we are not qualified to decide how infectious a visitor may be we do have a duty of care towards other staff and visitors and if we feel that a visitor (or member of staff) poses a risk to the health and safety of others then we should take action. Many institutions such as schools and nurseries have strict policies on this and in relation to Chicken Pox in particular the advice is to stay at home until the spots have scabbed and dropped off. Contact with Chicken Pox can be very dangerous for pregnant ladies and those with a weakened immune system. Therefore, it may be appropriate to have a policy detailing how we deal with these situations. Do any other museums have policies in place and if so would you be willing to share them? I can collate and post back to the list.

 

Thanks

Laura

 

 

 

Laura Travis
Formal Learning Manager

Museums Sheffield
Weston Park, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TP
0114 278 2657
0784 157 1031
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museums-sheffield.org.uk


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