COVID HEALTH AND SAFETY SUPPORT FOR THE MEDIA INDUSTRY
Alongside our medical partners, Vala Health, we are able to offer a comprehensive set of medical, health and safety services to advise TV and Film production companies on COVID-19 and working in the “new normal”.
Our expertise stems from experience with infection control practices and remote healthcare in remote tropical regions, including Ebola outbreaks. These services can be a COVID-specific add-on to production’s current protocols, or built in as a holistic approach alongside our other industry-leading risk management services.
To see examples of the breadth of support we offer, along with our comprehensive approach and guiding principles, please see our COVID-19 Generic Protocols flowchart, here.
SPECIALIST MEDICAL SUPPORT Our specialist medical support is supported by our long term partners, Vala Health. Vala is an online healthcare service, fully registered and regulated through the Quality Care Commission. Together we are able to provide:
- Medical declarations – pre-shoot declarations, consultations, and medical risk management advice for staff who may be in higher risk or vulnerable categories
- Testing – PCR testing capabilities for screening and response purposes including provision of tests, infrastructure management for home testing in conjunction with online consultations, and on-location testing by our specialist COVID-19 medical teams, who can ensure that swabs are taken, handled and labelled correctly
- On Demand GP Consultations – quick, convenient GP consultations via video link for staff before or during the shoot, covering the full spectrum of medical issues
- Mental health – counsellor support, guidance and signposting to support your mental health risk assessment
In the past, Vala’s expertise has been utilised to provide timely advice on medical issues on location, on two occasions their medical risk management advice on talent medical issues kept shows in production, saving hundreds of thousands of pounds.
COVID-19 RISK ASSESSMENTS Detailed risk assessments are required to ensure you are delivering your duty of care to all cast and crew on set. We can assist with advice and expertise on specific COVID-19 hazards and how to mitigate these whilst supporting productions to achieve their filming aims.
Whilst the broad industry guidance is useful for production planning, we are experienced in devising protocols to practically manage risk on specific locations, with specific departments and with specific challenges. Social distancing, in particular, is potentially challenging to implement in all production settings, particularly with actors. We can assist and advise at the production and departmental level on practical solutions for COVID-19 specific risks.
COVID-19 PROTOCOLS The risk assessment will require the development of specific protocols as control measures or reactive responses and we can develop these specific to your circumstances. These are likely to include the following:
- Medical declarations and pre-shoot information management (GDPR compliant)
- Infection Control Policies – response plan if someone is showing signs and symptoms, including trace, test and isolate at the production level
- Communication of risk assessments, protocols and informed consent
- Training (course provision, identification of key objectives and who should be trained)
- Supervision and enforcement throughout production
- Use of PPE
COVID-19 HEALTH & SAFETY SUPERVISORS We provide specialist advisors who can embed with production, bringing expertise in pre-production development of risk assessments and protocols, and an on-location presence to coordinate and manage all Health & Safety, including COVID-19 specific risk management. They will be the go-to person for production dealing with all aspects of COVID-19, including updating, reviewing, and dynamically assessing protocols, and advice on enforcement.
Our advisors are all experienced in the industry and understand the unique needs to production. They are also used to finding forward thinking, flexible and practical risk management solutions to support your successful production.
COVID-19 MEDICAL TEAMS We can provide on-set medics to assist with any medical screening process that is implemented, including daily declaration of signs and symptoms and temperature checks. They are also part of any integrated response to an individual showing signs and symptoms and any trace, test and isolate response plan with the ability to take PCR swabs on location. The medics will also be able to support the Health & Safety Supervisor with more generic safety responsibilities and implementation of the risk assessment for a holistic approach across the production.
PPE GUIDANCE & SUPPORT We can provide specific guidance on PPE use in line with Government and HSE guidance including:
- PPE/RPE as a sensible control measure on the risk assessment
- Training on PPE use
- Fit testing
- Sourcing of PPE
OVERSEAS PLANNING SUPPORT Need to film overseas? In addition to our risk management support, we can assist with planning for overseas shoots in the current climate. Our unique process sets out key questions to answer with regard to different locations, providing a dynamic framework to test potential shoots against. There is real uncertainty in the current climate and it is difficult to know where to start, we can help provide a route through the mist.