Film safety working party

BECTU is centrally involved in a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) working party looking at how to improve safety standards in film production.

Recent high-profile prosecutions by the HSE in the feature film sector have drawn attention to unacceptable working practices, and lack of a "safety culture", in film production.

It has been agreed that the working party's focus should be on health & safety training. The working party is therefore aiming to define key safety issues for each grade, and to give guidance on appropriate safety training where necessary.

BECTU welcomes this overall aim - members are most at risk from bad safety management, and will benefit most from improved health and safety standards.

One problem with safety training, as with any other training, is that it can be expensive. There will undoubtedly be arguments further down the line about who foots the bill for safety training.

However there is a legal obligation on employers to make sure that their employees are competent to carry out their work safely, and to provide training if necessary. If the end result of the working party is that the budget for each feature film production includes a proper budget-line for health & safety, and a budget-line for training, then its work will not have been in vain.