COVID-19 Filming Guidelines

Introduction

Health & Safety has always played a major role in filming on location. Now, because of COVID-19, we have introduced some new measures to our existing procedures.

This document lays out those measures and what you can expect when we work with you on location. (Please let us know if you wish to see our standard Risk Assessment too).

We are committed to doing everything we can to minimise the risk to you and your employees as well as our teams. If you have any questions or require any further mitigations please talk to us.

Background

The processes we have put in place are based on the Government Guidelines for Business and the TV Production Guidance created by leaders in the industry.

Many of these measures apply to us and our clients so please read this document carefully. One of our team will be in contact with you prior to any filming to ensure that our risk assessment and relevant measures meet with your approval and are all actionable.

This information and a set of FAQs are available on our website.

New Measures

When filming on location or in our workplace we are complying with the government guidelines. This means we will,

Carry out a COVID-19 Risk Assessment for each project

Follow cleaning, handwashing and hygiene procedures in line with guidance

Take all reasonable steps to help people work from home

Take all reasonable steps to maintain a 2m distance

Where 2m risk is not possible we are doing everything practical to manage transmission risk.

How we are doing this for each of the guidelines is set out below.

1.Carry out a COVID-19 Risk Assessment for each project

For every project we are organising a pre-production Health & Safety meeting to run through our measures and how the shoot will work.

In addition to our existing risk assessments we will also complete a COVID-19 risk Assessment in line with HSE Guidelines. This will need to be shared with and approved by you before filming.

If working at your location we will request information about the measures your organisation has in place.

2. Follow cleaning, handwashing and hygiene procedures in line with guidance

Our crew will wash hands when arriving or departing a location and as often as possible outside of those occasions.

Where this is not possible Hand Sanitiser (>60% Alcohol content) will be used.

We will frequently clean and disinfect any objects and surfaces that are touched regularly.

We will use boom mics when possible but if personal mics need to be worn they will be disinfected with 60% + alcohol solution and then fitted by the contributors under direction of the crew.

All our equipment will be cleaned or quarantined for a set period of time between shoots

3. Help people to work from home

Where possible our pre-production and post-production work is all being done from home.

When filming is taking place on location we have put a series of measures in place (as described in this document).

Only essential crew will work on location - this may mean a crew of one if the situation allows

We will schedule filming to minimise the amount of time spent on location, however these measures along with camera operators been the only people who can handle kit means that setting up and filming is taking longer than usual

We are maximising technology to enable roles and activities to be done from home and remotely wherever possible.

We are developing/adapting concepts/scripts where possible to minimise the number of people who need to attend/travel.

4. Take all reasonable steps to maintain a 2m distance

Our crews are avoiding public transport whenever possible

We are using single occupancy vehicles

Outdoor filming is to be utilised wherever possible

When it is not possible we need large well ventilated indoor spaces

Whenever possible we are not filming in crowded, busy or public ares

Physically maintaining 2m separation between individuals implies 4m² per person in a clear space or 6m² in a space with furniture or equipment as a minimum

Concepts/scripts are been created to minimise the need for work within a 2m distance whenever possible

We adhere to all measures in place at the filming location - eg floor markings, one way systems etc.

5. Where 2m risk is not possible we are doing everything practical to manage transmission risk.

Following the measures already listed this is a very rare requirement and we always look for creative ways to tell a story without filming in these environments

When it can’t be avoided we follow government guidelines to wear face coverings in enclosed spaces where the 2m distance is not possible.

We keep any time in this environment to an absolute minimum

As per Section 3 we will keep the attendees to essential crew only and use remote communications/viewing where required to facilitate this.

When working in high risk environments eg, healthcare settings we will wear the appropriate level of PPE and follow the appropriate protocols.

Other Measures

There are a number of other common sense measures we are following that are not part of the government’s headline guidelines.

Anyone showing symptoms* within the last ten days should not attend shoots and we ask that the same applies to anyone from the client side or contributors

Our crew will complete a temperature test on the day of shoots

We ask that you notify us if anyone attending later develops symptoms within a 14 day period.

We will produce a call-sheet and with attendees agreement we will record the contact details of everyone involved in filming (in line with GDPR regulations)

We will bring our own refreshments - lunch, drinks etc as required.

Please notify us if anyone from your team or any contributors are deemed ‘high risk’

If anyone develops symptoms during the shoot it will be ended and everyone will be expected to leave

If appropriate we will notify RIDDOR of any occurrences of COVID-19 in line with their requirements.

Main symptoms*

The main symptoms of coronavirus are:

a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)

a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)

a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you've noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal

Most people with coronavirus have at least 1 of these symptoms.

*information from NHS online (updated 8/7/20)

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/symptoms/