Summer Rain Films works primarily in film, broadcast, video and commercials production and as such has a legal duty in maintaining safety, to everybody, whatever their role in the production process.

OBLIGATIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

General points High standards of health and safety in production can only be achieved and maintained by everyone involved in the industry playing their part. This means recognising and accepting the different obligations and responsibilities that health and safety legislation places upon individuals or organisations. Under health and safety legislation, the ultimate responsibility for health and safety rests with the employers involved and the organisations in control of premises and facilities.

On a day-to-day basis, the producer has overall responsibility for ensuring that appropriate standards of health and safety are achieved and maintained throughout the production process. The underlying need is for the production company to establish appropriate organisational structures that support risk control and place health and safety alongside editorial and/or dramatic considerations. There should also be good planning, communication, co-operation and co-ordination by and between all parties involved throughout a production.

Summer Rain Films will ensure the health, safety and welfare of everyone involved with and/or affected by the production activities, including the effective control of contractors.

Summer Rain Films will:

● only undertake work for which it has been adequately funded;

● produce a written health and safety policy statement, including an organisation section detailing who is responsible for what, and an arrangements section, including the procedures for risk assessment and monitoring of performance;

● clearly identify who has control of the premises, location and facilities;

● use only competent staff, freelances and contractors (vetting and selection should include enquiries regarding health and safety competence);

● ensure that contractors and freelances are formally appointed and that company standards are clearly communicated to them (eg terms of trades, contractor rules, health and safety procedures);

● identify any additional training needs of staff and freelances and ensure these are met before production commences;

● ensure that contractors are provided with adequate information about the planned production activity so that they in turn can establish safe systems of work based on risk assessment (they may need to be invited along to any recces and production meetings as required);

● ensure that specialist advice is taken and implemented where necessary;

● ensure that a full risk assessment is undertaken for all activities under the control of the production, the appropriate controls are implemented for all identified risks and the significant findings of the assessment are recorded;

Health and safety in audio-visual production

Our legal duties:

● ensure appropriate exchange of information regarding risk assessments between production and all affected parties (this might include local authorities, police or residents);

● ensure adequate co-ordination and communication between the various parties involved in the production; ● ensure that work begins only when adequate preparations have been made, including full assessment of all risks, selection of competent contractors and other production crew, clear assignment of responsibilities and rehearsals where necessary;

● ensure that all work throughout the life of a production is undertaken safely, in line with any company standards and/or the standards established by risk assessments (including those from contractors);

● ensure that staff and freelance employees are adequately informed and supervised throughout the production; ● report all accidents and reportable incidents, in line with company/production policy and legal requirements;

● communicate any changes that are likely to affect health and safety standards in the production clearly and with the maximum notice possible;

● monitor health and safety performance throughout the production;

● implement effective remedial action for any shortcomings in performance;

● ensure that any concerns with the health and safety performance of employees, freelance staff and contractors are addressed and communicated as appropriate;

● consult and involve employees in health and safety matters;

● ensure that working hours are managed effectively throughout all production activities. Everyone involved with the production is responsible for ensuring heath and safety standards for their own activities. Where the producer delegates performance of key stages of the production to suitably competent individuals, eg set design and build, or rigging, these people will be responsible for ensuring that the health and safety standards are met for their delegated tasks.

Producers, managers and supervisors

The production company may delegate to producers, managers, supervisors, heads of departments and senior crew the responsibility for ensuring that:

● employer’s arrangements for health and safety are implemented;

● duties delegated to them are carried out;

● staff are adequately trained, competent and supervised as necessary;

● any health and safety concerns involving high-risk areas such as design, construction, striking, special effects or visual effects are brought to the attention of their employer;

● a full risk assessment is carried out at the design stage and that appropriate controls are implemented for all risks identified;

● significant findings of any risk assessments are recorded and relayed to the production crew;

● sets, scenery, props etc are designed and tested for safety before their intended use, and during construction, setting and striking;

● appropriate markings or warnings are provided/displayed on sets, scenery, props etc where there is residual risk, eg weight or stability for manual handling and for rigging or de-rigging;

● the production crew are informed of any maintenance, inspection or certification required for the continued safety of sets, scenery, props or special effects;

● staff, contractors and freelances employed are adequately supervised and are competent to carry out the required work;

● the production crew are made aware of any conflicting demands during production and of any significant health and safety issues associated with the design work;

● work is carried out in line with legal requirements and the production company’s policy and procedures;

● adequate communication and co-operation is maintained between the production company and other contractors who may be affected; ● subcontractors are competent and adequately briefed. It is common for certain key contractors to be involved at varying levels during the tender stage to comment on practicality and likely cost of sets, special effects etc.

Individual workers/production crew Individual workers, location managers and production crew also have key health and safety responsibilities:

● to take reasonable care of themselves and others who may be affected by what they do or fail to do;

● to co-operate with the employer in carrying out activities intended to meet the employer’s health and safety responsibilities, eg by following instructions, using personal protective equipment, reporting accidents and near-miss incidents;

● to work within the limits of their competence;

● to attend training as required by the employer;

● raise any health and safety concerns with their head of department, line manager or producer;

● co-operate with the producer or a nominated person in all matters relating to health and safety.

Contractors Contractors are jointly responsible, with the production company, for working in a safe manner in accordance with relevant legal requirements. They should ensure that:

● employees and any subcontractors are competent to carry out the work activity;

● performance of their employees and subcontractors is monitored;

● site rules or production safety procedures are followed;

● they co-operate and co-ordinate with the production crew and any other people who may be affected by their activities;

● risk assessments are carried out for their activities and the necessary control measures are implemented;

● significant findings of any risk assessments and the necessary control measures are adopted and communicated to everyone who may be affected;

● health and safety concerns are raised at the earliest possible occasion with production;

● a contact person is nominated for health and safety issues and they communicate with production and other contractors on health and safety matters;

● machinery and equipment is properly maintained, appropriate for the intended task and operators are competent;

● a system of communication and co-ordination is set up between any subcontractors;

● recces are attended as required;

● the production company is informed promptly of any accidents and incidents.

Safety advisers or consultants to comply with health and safety legislation, employers should appoint one or more competent persons to assist the employer to comply with their legal duties. This does not mean that a specialist health and safety adviser (or consultant) is required for all productions; in many cases an experienced, competent person within the production will be better suited to the role.

Responsibility for the successful management of safety will not be delegated to an external health and safety adviser. They can support and advise, but the responsibility for health and safety remains with Summer Rain Films. Health and safety advisers can assist the production company:

● Advice on development of health and safety management systems, including health and safety policy documents, risk assessment strategies, accident reporting systems etc

● Assistance on the need and provision of health and safety training

● Auditing health and safety systems and practices (a check on existing arrangements)

● Accident investigations

● Monitoring and reviewing health and safety performance

● Providing information on new health and safety legislation and best practice

● Representing special interests of the production company in dealings with the enforcing authorities and other agencies

● Advice on planning for emergencies

● Writing guidance where a need has been identified Individual productions

● Advice on developing health and safety plans for the production

● Advice on hazard identification, risk assessment and control strategies

● Assistance in monitoring safety practices

● Advice on selection of competent contractors

● Advice on requirements and specifications of safety equipment and personal protective equipment

CAPABILITIES AND TRAINING

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require employers to take account of their employees’ capabilities regarding health and safety. Summer Rain Films must therefore ensure that the demands of the task do not exceed their employees’ ability to carry out the work safely, without risk to themselves or others. The process of risk assessment will help determine the level of training and competence needed for each particular task.

Summer Rain Films will make reasonable enquiries and be satisfied that the person or company is competent to carry out the activity for which they are to be engaged. Selection criteria could include:

● examples of experience of this type of work - testimonials from previous clients, portfolio of work;

● membership of professional organisations and associations;

● training records and qualifications, including safety training;

● examples of risk assessments and control measures adopted;

● proof of equipment certification and/or maintenance records;

● insurance information.

RISK ASSESSMENT

Summer Rain Films will engage a Risk assessment on each production to examine what could cause harm to people, so the company can weigh up whether adequate preventive or control measures have been taken or more should be done to prevent harm and to ensure that minimum legal standards are met.

Summer Rain Films is responsible for ensuring that risk assessments are completed for their productions. In practice, the company may delegate risk assessment to other people, such as production managers, designers, heads of departments, the location manager or the unit manager. In this case, the producer must ensure that:

● the person delegated is competent to perform the assessment, if necessary, by providing training in risk assessment procedures or other aspects of health and safety;

● the assessment is carried out;

● necessary controls are implemented effectively throughout the production;

● the assessment is reviewed where changes or new circumstances have made the original assessment no longer valid.

There are five simple steps in risk assessment:

Step 1 Look for hazards Don’t get bogged down with trivial hazards; concentrate on those posing a significant risk of injury or harm.

Step 2 Decide who might be harmed and how Think about who may be affected and those who are particularly at risk.

Step 3 Evaluate the risk Consider the chance and severity of harm that each hazard may cause, taking existing control measures into account. Judge whether an actual risk (high, medium or low) is likely from the identified hazard. Determine the necessary control measures using the following hierarchy of approach:

● avoid the risk completely; but if this is not possible

● reduce the risk to acceptable levels;

● provide training and instruction, and personal protective equipment if the risks cannot be controlled in any other way;

● reduce risk at source by developing safe systems of working, giving collective measures priority.

Step 4 Record the significant findings The significant findings of the risk assessment should be recorded and communicated to those people who may be affected. In practice, this means ensuring that the production team and any contractors are informed of the significant hazards, the likely risks and the required control measures. Keep a record for future reference, it will help to demonstrate compliance with legal duties. The legal requirement to record findings applies if five or more people are employed but smaller companies are recommended to record details in order to show that they have carried out risk assessment.

Step 5 Review and revise your risk assessment New hazards can be introduced if there is any significant change in the activity, equipment, substances or procedures. Risk assessments should be revised following any significant change or when they become out of date. If there have been no changes, the assessment should be reviewed at least once every three years to ensure that the precautions are still working effectively.