Annual Report 2008-2009 - National Gallery of Canada

Health and Safety
The Gallery takes seriously its responsibility to provide for the
health and safety of its visitors and staff. It takes a proactive
approach through the work of two committees, the Workplace
Health and Safety Committee and the Policy Health and Safety
Committee, in addition to the workplace inspection program
for all its facilities. The Gallery has also obtained funding,
through application to the Treasury Board Secretariat’s
Management Reserve Fund, to undertake a number of infrastructure
improvement projects to mitigate potential health
and safety concerns.
The number of security reports filed was reduced compared to
last year. The reported injuries to staff and visitors were minor,
and there were a few cases of damage to works on display as a
result of visitor contact. Conservation staff took immediate
action to address the damage to the works. No cases of theft
or vandalism in the collection of art were noted.
Program Activity 3:
accommodation
Building Operations and Capital
The Gallery’s facilities are appropriate to meet the Gallery’s
mandate and objectives are sustainable over the longerterm.
Priority: Optimize use of existing space for storage, public
programs and operation requirements; develop options to
address longer-term storage requirements.
Art Storage
As planned, work progressed on the improvement of storage
capacity. Following the conversion of the prints and drawings
vaults to higher density shelving, the Canadian prints and
drawings collection, which represents more than 9,400 works,
was moved to a new refitted space. The international collection
of prints and drawings, comprising more than 9,800
works, was moved back into refitted vaults. The newly refitted
vaults allowed for the relocation of the CMCP collection from its
temporary storage into Gallery storage vaults.
Priority: Safeguard the collection and intellectual property.
Infrastructure
The Gallery received $14.8 million from the Treasury Board
Management Reserve Fund for the fiscal years 2007–08 to
2009–10 to address capital infrastructure renewal projects.
Some of the major projects completed during the 2008–09
fiscal year include the following:
• Upgrade of the Building Automation System devices;
• Automation of interior gallery doors to provide barrierfree
access;
• Refurbishment of passenger elevators serving the Curatorial
Wing;
• Upgrade of the elevator serving the Library stacks;
• Upgrade of the passenger elevator serving the parking
garage;
• Life-cycle replacement of electric heating devices;
• Installation of high density shelving in two separate art
vaults;
• Conversion of offices to an art storage vault beside loading
dock;
• Life-cycle replacement of carbon monoxide sensors in the
parking garage;
50 Key Expected Results