Risk Assessment

Risk assessment

Research what a risk assessment is? Who uses them? What do they include? What do they look like?

A risk assessment is a procedure that is enforced by the law, it is an operation where a company for a film will have to go to the area that they shooting the film beforehand and look around the area for any hazards or dangers that could possibly occur whilst shooting the film. If this is not done and someone is injured then this can be taken to court and it can cost the company and considerable amount of money to pay of the charges accused against them.

A risk assessment is used by governing bodies at by the company who will tell the film producers before they film to go and check the scene for any risks however if this is not implemented by the producer and the risk assessment is no complete then he or she themselves will be sued and charged for the hazards that have happened.

In a risk assessment you need to check and consider the other people that are involved with producing and filming the film. We should involve in our risk assessment the consideration of other people, that safety precautions are in place, all risks have been assessed and the remaining risk is at an all-time minimum.

This is what they look like above where you have a hazard or a risk but next o it you have the action or solution in order to either prevent the risk or show them what to do if the risk was to happen to someone on the set that is part of the cast, this includes actors, camera people, director, the runner (directors assistant)

 Why have risk assessments? How important is it when making a film?

It is very important to carry out a risk assessment before going onto set to film your movie. First of all filming is a job and the set of a scene can be called a workplace. This means The Health and Safety At Work Act 1974 covers it. This states that all employers or responsible persons on the workplace must carry out a detailed risk assessment to assess the hazards and risk of the hazard harming any person on that workplace in open hours. This makes it a criminal offence and against the law to not carry out a risk assessment. If a risk assessment is not carried out before going onto to set, if an accident happened to any one on set then you would be liable. This means it would not be the company’s fault and all the responsibility would be put on the management of the set.

Although it seems like a boring task before filming it is mighty important. Different sets have lots of different hazards. For example if you are filming a set from height then there is the hazard of falling. If you are filming a scene underwater there is a hazard of the person drowning. All these hazards might seem very unlikely but they all have to be taken into account. A risk assessment is used so that if something happens you can show the court that you did your risk assessment and looked at the hazard. You can then show them that you decided to go ahead with the filming after doing a risk assessment because you felt the likelihood of the hazard causing harm was very unlikely. By doing a risk assessment you are then also insured under the company. This means if something did happen then they would be liable and have to go to go to court instead of you because you have done your job and carried out a risk assessment.

What types of dangers might you come across during a shoot? How would ensure everyone on site is as safe as possible?

Whilst shooting, you will come across a few health and safety hazards and you will need to assess the risk of the hazard. When shooting outside, there could be major tripping hazards, for example you could see that there is a tree root sticking out of the ground which one of the actors could trip on. To avoid this hazard either move where you are shooting to an area where there are no tree roots coming out of the ground. An example of an inside hazard could be sharp objects, for example you could have a bannister at the top of your stairs which is sharp and to avoid the hazard of hurting yourself on it you could put a foam bumper around it to avoid the risk.