Health and safety on set

Health and safety on set

It is important as the director to ensure the overall safety of the crew you are using on a shoot or in a studio. As the director it is your responsibility to ensure the safety of everyone you hire not just actors but camera operators or sound engineers as well. It is within your best interests to address safety issues as fast as possible to not only avoid legal problems should an injury occur but also to build trust with the crew you use. 

Wires

On set there will be electrical equipment being used which means that if they are not battery powered there will be wires across the floor. To ensure safety the best course of action for this would be to move them out of the paths of the crew if possible and all wires should be covered with tape to ensure that nobody is tripped up by them. It is important to try to ensure that wires across the floor do not get entangled with each other or around any equipment, this is important because if not taken into consideration a member of the crew could attempt to pick up the equipment which would snag and fall on them causing an injury.

Lighting 

It is important for the crew to be properly warned about the lights that are being used as most lights can get quite hot and if used for extended periods of time could remain hot for a while even after being shut off. If the crew are not aware of this and attempt to disassemble them after a shoot they could end up burning themselves and damaging the equipment. Lights used for film can also be quite heavy which could injure the crew if they are not properly managed when packing up after a shoot. Lights used should also be properly maintained and cared for to ensure that no faults occur during filming which could harm the crew such as an electrical shock. Lights can be deceiving for the crew as with a soft box they may not seem very heavy however the bulb and casing can put people off balance if not carried correctly.

Cameras and Tripods

It is important for camera crew to be aware that the equipment they are using could become unstable and fall if placed on unstable land or a slope, it is important that the shot you are trying to get will not put any of your crew in harms way. Cameras and the tripod mounts can be quite heavy together if not carefully handled the crew could harm themselves so it is important as the director to distribute your crew correctly to ensure the safety of your crew. 

Camera cranes

Camera cranes are unlikely to be used by smaller production companies due to their high cost however it can be quite easy for them to cause harm for the crew using them. The metal arm of a camera crane could cause a great deal of harm for a crew member if it isn't positioned correctly and ends up hitting them. The crane can also be dangerous if the camera is incorrectly mounted the camera could fall and hit a member of the crew and break expensive equipment. The crane also needs to be correctly fitted into the ground if stationary or ensure the counter weight is correctly fitted as if either is wrong the crane could fall and hit a crew member.

Drone cameras

Drone cameras can be very useful for filming establishing shots however they need to operated with a lot of care and require a lot of maintenance to ensure that they do not cause harm to anyone. Drones have limited battery life so it is important to ensure that they are at full battery before doing anything intensive with them. Drones also have limited range before they go out of signal range. If either of these things happen they could fall out of the sky and could hit someone on the crew or even out of the crew. It is also important to note with drones that they also have a lot of legal issues so you must get the proper documents or go to the correct place to use them.