Health and Safety


Should archaeologists carry guns in the field?

Guns in the archaeology classroom; Guns in the field 4

First, I just want to clearly tell everyone: I’m not anti-gun; I’m anti-idiot with a gun. Self-defense is a basic right for all people. This right should not to be confused with interpretations of the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution that gun aficionados seem to thing means, “it’s […]


American Red Cross First Aid app is an invaluable tool for archaeologists 1

Last weekend, I took my bi-annual CPR/AED refresher certification through the University of Arizona Recreation Center. I have long been obsessed with learning as much as I can about health and safety in order to help improve the abysmal condition of safety training and awareness in the cultural resource management […]

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Cultural Resource Management Archaeology Safety Overkill

That’s right. You read the title correctly. I’m talking about the times when there’s too much safety in CRM. I know I spoke about the lack of safety coverage in most companies and almost all university field programs, but, recently, I learned about a situation where a company is being […]


Archaeology Work in Hot Weather

Last weekend, I participated in a conversation on hot weather health and safety on the CRM Archaeology Podcast. Most of us are aware of the dangers of working in hot weather (temperatures above 90 degrees), but we may not all be aware of measures we can take to prevent injuries. […]


30-minute workouts for cultural resource management professionals

In February, my wife had our second child. It has been a blessing. The extra pounds both she and I gained during her pregnancy however, have not been a blessing. Soon after the baby was born, we both realized that we needed to do something about our weight. It stinks […]


Job Descriptions are Central to a CRM Archaeology HASP

I realized how hard creating a CRM archaeology-specific health and safety plan (HASP) can be while talking about improving archaeology workplace health and safety with my friend (the President of Northwest Safety and Risk Services in Boise, Idaho). In our conversation, I described some of the situations I found myself […]


Workplace Safety for Archaeologists: My New Crusade 1

I was reading a post on Think Traffic by Amy Clover and realized that, unbeknownst to me, I was starting a crusade. Maybe it was hearing President Obama’s inaugural speech that inspired me to strive for more than just trying to help archeologists find jobs. I know he’s a politician, […]


Developing a Health and Safety Plan for Cultural Resources Archaeology 1

On November 21, 1968, an enormous explosion at a coal mine in West Virginia killed 78 miners. Only 21 of the 99 men working that shift at the Farmington No. 9 mine escaped with their lives. The others could not be rescued immediately because of fires that raged following the […]