Fitting out of Hangar 1 Starts

With the recent handover of Hangar 1 by SDC a group of the RAF Museum’s senior staff, including the Chief Executive, found out what it would be like to be a contractor working at the Museum today…..

We were required to attend an induction session given by Ryan Lee, Site Manager from the Hub, who are fitting out three new permanent exhibitions which will open later in 2018 to mark the RAF’s centenary. The new exhibition spaces are now under The Hub’s management, and all sub-contractors and Museum staff entering have to follow the rules and safeguards to the letter.

Ryan has seen lots of visitors, including staff who think it’s fine ‘just to pop in for five minutes’ (surely he can’t have been talking about RAF Museum staff?). We were told to remember that there is yellow and red card health and safety system – three strikes and you can’t come back on site – so I started listening really closely.

As well as understanding the protective clothing needed to work on and visit the site, we are told to treat the beautiful new interior like we would our own homes, that listening to the radio is OK but headphones are a no-no, as is any dodgy language. Finally we were urged to always make sure that we flushed after we finished! It made me realise the huge range of issues there are when you are running a complex site well and safely.

I’m so looking forward to seeing the new exhibitions come to life over the next few months, but I’ll be wearing the right kit, walking in the right places and certainly won’t be using bad words – thanks Ryan.