The meaning and purpose of potential hazards/risk assessments is to ensure I know exactly what the hazards are with filming and what their risks are. By knowing this I can come up with control measures to stop anything wrong from happening. This is to make sure no equipment is broken, and anyone involved in the film including actors and people filming is not hurt or injured.
Risk Assessment
Before filming, a number of risk assessment's have to be carried out in order to ensure everybody's health and safety. These help highlight the different kinds of risks in the workplace or on location.
KEY:
Risk assessments ensure that I know all the hazards and risks involved when filming and makes me aware of them lessening the likelihood of any problems.
(Risk Assessment by Anna Weston)
A specified Risk assessment for filming on the day:
The risk assessment above is more specified than the first one. This is because there are extra hazards that need to be taken into consideration for the actual place in which we were filming in as well as the general risks for any location. This ensures that we knew all the exact hazards, risks and solutions so that nothing could go wrong.
Risk Assessment research and information from the government policy for health and safety procedures when filming:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg360.pdf - A government document for professional standards of health and safety in the film industry.
RISK ASSESSMENT What is risk assessment?
Risk assessment is a careful examination of what could cause harm to people, so the production company/producer 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. You need to determine whether there are any significant hazards involved with the production activity and whether sufficient precautions have been taken to reduce the risk. A hazard is something that can cause harm, eg chemicals, electricity, noise, work at height, loose cables. A risk is the chance that somebody will be harmed by the hazard, usually classified as high, medium or low.
Who should do risk assessment?
A competent person, who has knowledge, experience and understanding of the task or activity under assessment, should carry out the risk assessment. If special technical knowledge is required, more than one person may be required, including someone who has the necessary competence in the particular activity, eg stunts, special effects, flying, animals, set design. The producer is responsible for ensuring that risk assessments are completed for their productions. In practice, they 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.
For small-scale productions in low-risk situations, eg those involving a single camera or small crews, it is likely that the assessment can be carried out by the crew on the ground. The production company/producer must ensure that crew working on this style of production have the necessary competence to perform risk assessment and implement effective controls. In the case of ‘non-production’ activities, the responsibility for assessment rests with the departmental manager. Again, they are likely to delegate the assessment to others but will still retain the responsibility for ensuring that those to whom they delegate are competent to perform the assessment, that the assessment is carried out and the necessary controls are implemented effectively and reviewed.
How do I carry out a risk assessment?
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.
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