Pre-production: Risk assessments

A risk assessment is an examination of a location identifying what could cause harm on a shoot so that a production company can decide whether adequate control measures are in place to prevent harm.

Example risk assessment

Tips for risk assessments are:

• Identify the hazards and those who can be affected by them
• Evaluate the risk of each of those hazards
• Identify and prioritise appropriate control measures to eliminate/reduce the risk
• Review and update as necessary 

BBC example risk assesment

Risk assessments should be done when activities or situations proposed present a foreseeable and significant risk of injury or ill-health, When you don’t already have a risk assessment or safe operating procedure which adequately addresses the risks from the proposed activity; or where the review date for these has lapsed. -BBC Risk Assessments The earlier a risk assessment is done the easier it is to co-ordinate and communicate what's happening and what could pose a potential risk to crew and cast. It should not be considered a last minute task.

When doing a risk assessment you need to identify and prioritise putting in place, appropriate control measures

Start by:

• identifying what can harm people in your workplace
• identifying who might be harmed and how
• evaluating the risks and deciding on the appropriate controls, taking into account the controls you already have in place
• recording your risk assessment
• reviewing and updating your assessment -hse GOV risk assessments

When filling out a risk assessment you need to have a good understanding of the proposed activity/locations so you know what could go wrong, you need to do your research. Detail in the risk assessment should be proportionate to the risk posed, simple risks can be done in bullet points other risks may need more complex description. When doing a risk assessment it should cover anyone on the location who could be harmed, you should cover the general public and any other groups out side of cast and crew.

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From this I learnt:

• The importance of having detailed risk assessments
• The need to consider everyone outside your production too
• Risk assessments can be updated but it's vital it's done sooner rather then later

I will use this in pre-production by being able to put in much more relevant information as well as using the risk assessment to its full potential.

Before I filled out my risk assessments I made a table of risks and locations to ensure I don't forget anything.

I then transferred these into risk assessments for the two locations we have confirmed. The location for the title sequence will be the same as Tanya's interview in our house and therefore have the same information as that risk assessment.