Production Safety & COVID-19

Around the world, as governments seek to facilitate a return to work (at various times in the future) the issue of safety in the workplace has been at the forefront of public thought. Regardless of the job and the location, how can it be done as safely as possible to avoid infection?

UPDATE: American Film Market has collected this list of Worldwide COVID-19 Film Production Guidelines.

In the UK, where Movidiam is based, the Government announced return to work measures this week. The guidelines initially didn’t mention film & TV production (or the wider creative content world), but the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has issued a statement saying that “the government is working closely with the screen sector to understand how different types of productions can comply with social distancing guidelines, and give confidence to people in the TV and film industries that there are safe ways in which they can return to work” — a welcome announcement for all those on hold for cancelled productions all over the country (and indeed the world).

As reported by Forbes, ‘the British Film Commission has been working on a slew of guidelines streamlined relative to production from the government’s advice. A number of precautions are set to be involved in the document including having a “COVID-19 supervisor” on set, crew training before shoots catered specifically for Coronavirus, dedicated rigorous cleaning, regular health screenings, government advised quarantining for incoming overseas talent and social distancing guidelines with specific body positions if the distance cannot be adhered to’.

These guidelines are set to be produced on Friday May 15th, and this article will be updated accordingly.

Meanwhile, creatives are putting out resources about their own experiences of working under these unprecedented conditions, including network member Jon Collins. Jon took to his blog — The New Normal: Five Ways to Carry on Shooting Post COVID-19 Lockdown — to give the details of how his latest work with Amazon was achieved.

Several sets of guidelines are also available to creatives hoping to be able to get back into work — The Advertising Producers Association (APA) has published a comprehensive set of guidelines, with Chief Executive Steve Davies taking to LinkedIn to explain that ‘‘the purpose of our guidelines is to enable production companies to take reasonable and practical steps to safeguard the health and safety of everyone attending a film shoot in relation to Covid-19 and to meet their legal obligations”.

The guidelines can be downloaded in full here, and alternatively First Option, safety consultants to the media and entertainment industry, have issued a Production Guidance document, focusing on ‘COVID-19 Production Protocols and Generic Risk Assessment’, which is also downloadable.

Although both the APA and First Option are UK-based organisations, and their guides are designed to comply with current UK legislation, they do offer practical advice that can be applicable worldwide. It is imperative that, regardless of your business, if you are seeking to implement any kind of return to work plan, that you check local legislation and guidelines for the latest information.