The author stresses the need for an emergency plan, familiar to the employees. The few minutes between the discovery of a starting accident and the arrival of professional assistance (fire brigade, ambulance, police) are extremely valuable. The legislation regarding safety and assistance comes from no less than three Ministries and will be changed in 1993. The organization model for internal assistance is based on deployment according to the size of the incident. The larger the scale of the incident, the larger the number of people assisting. An organization chart is part of the paper. Aspects of the plan are: communication systems, fire and smoke detectors, burglar-alarm. There is a direct line to the fire brigade. Experience shows that a written instruction to employees should be as concise as possible: the less the better. The responsibility of each employee is described in his task. Three out of four categories with regard to risk and damage are treated in more detail, as far as prevention and response (approach) are concerned: environmental influences, (burglary and vandalism), fire, technical/mechanical disorders. Measures have been taken in order to prevent or minimize damage once there is an accident. The author calls for cooperation of museums and safety/security specialists and for a stimulating and coordinating role of the Ministry of Culture.