19

Safety on Set

It was truly tragic news when in 2014 assistant cameraperson Sarah Jones lost her life on a train trestle in Georgia. News of the event rattled the film industry, mainly because of the blatant disregard for safety shown by the filmmakers. This was not the only death that occurred on a film set. I once met a man who lost his legs when an errant stunt car careened into the camera truck he was sitting in. From 1980 to 1990 there were thirty-seven deaths on film sets from stunts that had gone wrong. No one should have to lose his or her life on a film set. The important thing to remember here is that these tragedies are avoidable. There are many measures in place in the industry and safety practices at any filmmaker’s disposal. Let’s take a look at these.

OSHA

First, there’s OSHA. This is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, an agency in the U.S. Department of Labor. This is the group that monitors safety for the workplace nationwide. According to OSHA regulations, accidents in the workplace that result in hospitalization are required to be reported. The problem on many film sets is that many accidents are just not reported. In the case of Sarah Jones, OSHA fined the filmmakers $74,000.00 after an investigation where they determined the filmmakers had not provided a safe workplace. Some states have their own OSHA regulations, so you should check the state you are shooting in to see if the OSHA regulations are state based or federal.

Safety Officer/Manager

The safety officer, also called the safety manager, is responsible for all safety conditions on the set. The safety manager may be under contract with a studio and oversee safety for all the studio’s productions. Alternatively, this person may be a safety manager who is hired on an independent basis. The safety manager may be employed for a certain amount of time or for run of show, depending on the needs of the production. If your stunts and special effects people are run of show, the safety manager would most likely be also. If not, the safety manager may be needed only for certain situations. The safety manager’s duties and responsibilities are as follows:

• May answer directly to a studio.
• May answer directly to the producer and director.
• Reads the script and marks all actions that may indicate an unsafe or hazardous situation.
• Meets with the producer, director, stunt coordinator, or visual effects supervisor to discuss safety issues.
• May advise stunt or special effects department on set.
• If needed, shows up on set to supervise the safety of any situation deemed necessary.

Qualities of a Good Safety Manager

• Knows the industry-wide labor management safety committee safety bulletins.
• Is knowledgeable in various safety practices for stunts and special effects.
• Can recognize potential safety hazards and has the aggressiveness and integrity to try to prevent accidents.

On low-budget films, when a safety manager is too expensive, safety considerations fall to the 1st AD. The 1st AD has a lot to deal with, and many are very safety conscious. However, safety managers are more educated with items like firearm laws, use of pyrotechnics, and DOT (Department of Transportation) restrictions. Safety managers are also trained in health practices for departments such as makeup, hair, and wardrobe.

The Set Medic

Another safety type person on set is the set medic, or sometimes the EMT (emergency medical technician). These guys are specifically trained in emergency medical procedures. If you have a particularly hazardous shoot, you should have an EMT or set medic on hand to deal with any injuries. You can find an EMT through the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (www.nremt.org).

Safety in Pre-Production

Safety begins with the script. The safety manager will read the script and identify any potential safety considerations. Once those are identified, meetings will take place with the 1st AD, director, and possibly the producer. At these meetings the safety manager will lay out what needs to happen in order to shoot in the safest way possible. He will then consult and possibly distribute the appropriate safety bulletins. Union shows use a set of established safety guidelines called the Industry-Wide Labor Management Safety Committee Safety Bulletins. These documents also include an Industry Code of Conduct. Nonunion and lower-budget projects are not bound by these guidelines but would be wise to use them. They are extremely comprehensive in covering all aspects of a production that may require safety monitoring. The safety manager will make sure all heads of departments are familiar with the appropriate bulletins. For instance, if you hire a craft services person who may be inexperienced, make sure she reads Safety Bulletin #32, Food Handling Guidelines for Production.

The next safety considerations come into play during the location or tech scout. Here the safety manager will assess the location for potentially dangerous areas such as unstable flooring or structures, safety of the neighborhood, and adequate egress. For cast and crew, should there be a problem, they need to know where and how to exit the area. There might also be off-limit areas stipulated by the location, either due to privacy or safety. Be sure to have these areas marked on the day of filming.

Issues or Hazards

There are many issues you may have to deal with on a film set. The IATSE safety bulletins help give you practical application of safety practice (www.csatf.org/bulletintro.shtml). These bulletins are a great way of finding details on many of these issues. In addition to these bulletins, here are some safety issues to think about.

• Working with children: Children can be noisy, and fearless. Children should always be accompanied by an adult on set, at all times, and within arm’s length. The big shiny equipment on set could look enticing to a youngster, so they must be kept away from lights, cables, the camera, and so forth. Also, do not try to work a child for long periods of time. Aside from possibly being outside labor policies, tired children do not perform well on camera.
• Working with animals: Animals, much like children, can be noisy and fearless. Obviously there must be someone to wrangle the animal at all times, whether that’s an actual wrangler or PA (in many cases). In addition, animals need to be fed and have a place to do their business. One major safety issue with animals is their interactions with humans. Animals are unpredictable, so depending on the kind of animal, care needs to be taken as to the animal’s proximity and access to crew.
• Electricity and water: Needless to say, these two do not mix. This is why many film shoots may be cancelled due to rain or snow. What’s important here is the condition of the cables. A solid new cable can lay in a puddle of water (though it’s still not a good idea) and the electrical conduits inside are protected by the outer covering of the cable. Not so with old, possibly cracked cables. The point here is this: don’t mix these two, even if that means you have to lose a day of filming.
• Weather: Besides the electrical issues, shooting in the rain has other hazards. Surfaces become slippery when wet. If you do shoot in the rain, you need to make sure that everyone has proper footgear and moves cautiously around set. You also need to be mindful of extreme temperatures, as well as moderate temperatures when you have cast in water situations. In cold weather, insure crew and cast are properly protected from the elements with gloves, hats, coats rated for cold weather, and so forth. In hot weather, insure crew are given plenty of fluids and watched for heat stroke. If you have cast in water, you need to be mindful of hypothermia. The body will start to go into hypothermia at 95 degrees, just a little over 3 degrees under natural body temperature. There are charts online where you can determine the maximum amount of time a person should be in the water based on the water temperature.
• Sleep deprivation: One of the biggest hazards on and off the film set is sleep deprivation. Many filmmakers get carried away and shoot for fourteen- to eighteen-hour days. I once did a twenty-three-hour day, literally. It’s a miracle I got home at all. Crew members have been injured or killed by falling asleep while driving after an extremely long day. In 2003 the 12on12off movement began with two cinematographers who were tired of seeing crews abused with long hours. One of those cinematographers, Haskell Wexler, also produced the documentary Who Needs Sleep (2006), which really every filmmaker should see. Needless to say, no shot is worth someone’s life, so make sure your crew gets adequate turnaround.
• Gun safety: Crew members have been killed on sets in accidents with guns. Brandon Lee lost his life in 1993 on a film set when a projectile was ejected from a gun pointed at his stomach. Apparently there was no safety check before the gun was given to the actor in the scene. Follow all appropriate safety checks on set when using guns.
• Location safety: There are many considerations when looking at a location. Here I’m talking about the surrounding area where you are shooting. I once filmed in what some would call a “questionable” neighborhood that was known for high crime. In order to insure the safety of the crew, we hired a licensed security guard to sit outside the set, on the street. If your set is big, you may want more than one, to insure people walking to their cars are kept safe.

Here is a list of the safety bulletins you may need to consult. In addition, there is a hotline listed on the website where you can call should you have any safety concerns on a film. Keep in mind these bulletins are guidelines, not regulations. Any federal laws would supersede these guidelines.

• Underwater filming
• Stunts
• Working with aircraft
• Using fog
• Pyrotechnics
• Using polyurethane and polystyrene foam
• Fire/flames on set
• Working with electrical power tools
• Working with moving vehicles
• Working with picture vehicles
• Working with elevated work platforms
• Appropriate clothing
• Personal protective equipment
• Airbags, boxes, or free-fall catch systems
• Camera boom vehicles
• Portable generators
• Cranes
• Edged and piercing props
• Extreme cold and hot weather conditions
• Food handling
• Working around indigenous critters
• Working around water, ponds, etc.
• Infancy
• Seat belts and helmets
• Drones
• Using gimbals
• Freshly painted surfaces
• Dust effects

Safety during Production

While filming, there are a number of events that need to take place to insure everyone’s safety. First, any safety notes that have been discussed per location in prep are placed on the appropriate day on the call sheet. This is important to let everyone know what is going on that day. Next, many shoots will hold a safety meeting with all crew in attendance as the first event on set. The 1st AD will gather all crew members and either he or the safety manager will go over any specific safety considerations for the day. As well as general location safety, if there are weapons on set, it is standard industry practice to hold a safety check.

The Safety Check

Here’s the process that should occur when guns are on set. These same protocols also cover other weapons such as swords, rapiers, knives, nunchucks, and so forth.

• The weapons should only be handled by the props or assistant props person. No other cast or crew should be allowed to handle them (unless it’s for the shot).
• All weapons should be kept under lock and key when not on set.
• If actors are not experienced in handling weapons, give them rehearsal time either in prep or on set to become familiar.
• When ready to film, the props person brings the weapon to set and filming halts in order to do the check.
• The 1st AD, the props person, the safety manager (if there is one), and the actor all stand together.
• The props person shows the weapon to all parties. If it is a gun, the chamber is opened to show that it is not loaded. If the gun uses a clip, the clip should be empty as well.
• The props person then, if necessary, shows all parties the blanks that will go in the weapon and loads the weapon.
• Lastly, the props person sets the safety on the weapon, showing that he is doing it. At that point the weapon could be turned over to the actor, if you are ready to shoot. If not, the props person should hold onto the weapon until only moments before camera rolls.
• As soon as the director calls cut, the props person immediately retrieves the weapon from the actor and holds onto it for the next take or shot.

In Case of Emergency

When an accident or emergency does happen, it is crucial that everyone knows what to do. Here’s one scenario and what needs to happen:

• Charlie the crane operator falls off the crane and is lying on the ground.
• The 1st AD halts shooting whether a take is rolling or not. All cast and crew should stay where they are and let the 1st AD and EMT handle the situation.
• The set medic or EMT assesses the injured party and checks his or her emergency form. See Figure 19.1.
• All cast are taken off set and back to holding.
• If needed, an ambulance is called to take him to the hospital.
• The 2nd AD calls the production office and informs them of the accident.
• The 2nd AD immediately fills out an accident/injury report (see Figure 19.2), getting information from witnesses as needed.
• The report is sent to the production office.
• The POC or UPM (or even producer sometimes) will meet the injured party at the hospital.
• The POC or UPM will call the insurance company and inform them of the accident.
• Once the ambulance has cleared the set, filming can recommence.

There’s an App for That!

Keeping abreast of safety regulations and issues can be difficult. Fortunately, there are a small number of apps out there that stay up-to-date with safety hotlines that crew can call to report excessive hours or unsafe conditions. There are also some that hold a copy of the Industry-Wide Labor Management Safety Committee Safety Bulletins.

Figure 19.1 Example emergency form

Figure 19.2 Accident/injury report

Summary

Safety is the most important issue on set. Crew and cast have needlessly been hurt or killed on sets. Filmmakers must adhere to common sense and utilize industry standard practices to protect the set. The Industry-Wide Labor Management Safety Committee Safety Bulletins at everyone’s disposal contain important guidelines on various safety issues. Safety managers work on larger-budget shoots to insure the safety of the set. Lower-budget films will utilize the 1st AD as a de facto safety manager. Safety issues include sleep deprivation, working with weapons, weather considerations, and more. Safety checks are a requirement on set when using weapons, and a general safety awareness should be practiced by all.