As part of managing the health and safety of the cast and crew when on shoot and on location, my group and I need to think about what might cause harm and take reasonable steps to prevent harm from happening; this is known as a risk assessment.
According to UK Government website 'Health and Safety Executive' (http://www.hse.gov.uk/risk/controlling-risks.htm), if there are fewer than five individuals within the work environment, a risk assessment is not needed. But, in this case, myself (Rosie Lines), Jasmine Rosser and Dean Fisher (all Advanced Level Media Studies students) need to produce a virus sub-genre teaser trailer that requires volunteer extras for occasional scenes. We have casted performers from the Performing Arts department at Castle Sixth Form. When a finalised production schedule has been produced, a list of actors and the potential risks they may have to face will be published on my blog. Altogether, there will be no greater then six individuals on set at on time (three crew members and three actors).
A risk assessment helps with the process of identifying sensible measures to control the risks on set and on location. My group and I have had to consider how accidents and ill health could happen and concentrate on real risks - those that are most likely and which will cause the most harm. The process consists of -
- Identify the hazards
- Decide who might be harmed and how
- Evaluate risks and decide on precautions
- Record findings
- Review assessment and update if necessary
What I have to remember is that a hazard is anything that may cause harm, such as chemicals, electricity, working from ladders, an open drawer etc. The risk is the chance, low or high, that somebody could be harmed by these and other hazards together with an indication on how serious the harm could be.
