P3

Sketches of SFX

BECTU - Job Cards.

Office and Production staff.

LONE WORKING: You may find yourself working alone or travelling alone. Lone workers, especially women, may be vulnerable to unwelcome advances from petty harassment to physical assault. Isolated activities – including leaving the workplace alone – should be avoided. Premises should be soundly constructed, with locks on doors and windows, with secure and well-lit access and egress (including parking areas). Where lone working or travelling is unavoidable, security provision and good communications are essential – including mobile phones, regular telephone check-ins, alarms and emergency “hotlines”. Some individuals may wish to carry personal protective items, eg, pepper sprays, rape alarms, etc. Employers should minimise lone working and protect against risks by always planning for personal security, increasing staffing levels, rescheduling working hours or providing adequate security cover as necessary.

WORKING TIME AND STRESS: Long working hours can cause fatigue and stress and make you more prone to errors, accidents and ill-health. BECTU believes no one should work more than 12 hours a day. By law you are entitled to rest breaks (as well as screen breaks), daily breaks (at least 11 hours), weekly breaks (of at least 35 hours, or a fortnightly break of at least 59 hours), a maximum average working week of 48 hours (if you agree to do more it should not involve health risks). In the absence of accessible public transport, especially in remote areas or during unsocial hours, alternative transport should be provided from the workplace. Everyone is entitled to work without harassment, bullying or other abuse. Risks assessments should include measures to reduce work-related stress and promote good working relationships.

HEALTH AND SAFETY LAW: Most film/TV industry workers – including freelances – are “employees” for health and safety purposes. This is not decided by your tax status, but by factors such as how much control you have over your work. This means your employer – the producer or production company – must: 

● make effective arrangements for managing and protecting health and safety; 

● establish safe systems of work; 

● organise “risk assessments”; 

● inform you of significant risks; 

● provide a safe workplace, safe access, egress, and equipment; 

● introduce preventive measures such as those described here. As an employee you should: 

● use equipment properly; 

● avoid putting yourself or others at risk; 

● inform your employer if you are aware of any dangers at work. If working for yourself, you must carry out risk assessments, and always cooperate with safety arrangements on shared sites. Everyone has a right to know: 

● who has overall responsibility for production health and safety;

● findings of risk assessments carried out by your employer, other employers, or self-employed individuals, which may affect you; 

● where the accident book is kept, and how to report accidents and work-related ill health.

Craft Card - Editor
NON-LINEAR EDITING: Work with computers and non-linear editing systems is subject to the “Display Screen Equipment” Regulations. Traditional tape-editing using TV monitors is not covered by these regulations, but other regulations still apply. Risk assessments must be carried out on all activities. Equipment must be suitable and safe for use and safely operated by competent people. The risks can be serious, resulting in long-term or permanent disability. They can lead to back and neck problems, and a range of hand/arm disorders (often referred to as “RSI”). Some of these (such as tenosynovitis, carpal tunnel syndrome) are prescribed industrial injuries. Problems can be caused by: 

● unsuitable chairs and badly placed keyboards, leading to bad posture; 

● unclear display screen images, leading to eye strain; 

● unsuitable or unreliable software; 

● poor lighting or insufficient space;

● unrealistic deadlines or excessive workloads, leading to stress; 

● radiation/emissions, a possible risk for pregnant women and others and a further cause of stress

Filming People

Be careful when filming people, if you were to film a person without their permission they could take legal action against you. it is not illegal to film people in a public place without permission as it is not private property but if they do not want to be in the video then it holds ethical problems. If you record someone on private property, they can take legal action against you for filming them without permission in their own private area. If you want to film someone in a private area, you will need to get their permission to do so.

I will not have this problem as the person we are recording has given permission and we are only filming them on private property of the college but they have given us permission to film as it is for college.

Filming Buildings

Without permission, filming buildings is the same as filming people. If the buildings are public property, for example, a shopping centre you can record but try and keep away from getting any big company brands into your recording as it can cause a lot of legal issues (if you are making money from the video). If the building is private property you will have to get permission from the owner to use their land and building and if they say no, recording their would be illegal. 

In our case, we are recording on college property and being students of that college, we are allowed to as long as the school is aware that we are doing so.