Most people working in British film and television believe safety has been compromised, according to a survey conducted on the anniversary of the tragic death of Mark Milsome
On the sixth anniversary of the tragic death of British cameraman Mark Milsome and two years after the death of Halyna Hutchins, a survey has found that almost three quarters of British crews working below the line feel their safety at work has been threatened.
The survey, conducted by Bectu and the Mark Milsome Foundation, asked film and TV crews about their views on health and safety training and protocols on British sets. It said little had improved since Milsome died in an accident while filming BBC and Netflix The rise of the Black Earth.
Nearly three-quarters of 733 respondents said they “felt their or a colleague’s safety was at risk at work,” although there was overwhelming agreement that safety training and protocols needed to be improved and that manufacturing companies should take ultimate responsibility for problems .
Meanwhile, more than two-thirds of respondents identified real concerns about people without relevant security experience or qualifications being promoted into management positions, and there were concerns about going public, with all those who reported incidents asking to remain anonymous for fear of putting them at risk. future employment.
Bectu and the Foundation called on the industry to commit to ensuring that everyone working on production has a Level 2 Production Safety Passport and everyone in a supervisory role has a Level 3.5 Passport. More broadly, they called on the industry to set standards for safety training and work together to find solutions to the culture of long working hours, which in turn impacts safety.
Bectu national secretary Spencer MacDonald said many crews had “never received even the most basic training or advice on working safely”.
The president of the Mark Milsome Foundation, Samantha Wainstein, added: “Mark’s death is a poignant reminder of how important it is to strictly follow health and safety guidelines. The Mark Milsome Foundation was established in his memory, and one of the main aspects of our mission is to ensure that no one on a film set is killed for the sake of a shot again.”
The survey was conducted two years after the tragic death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who died on the set of Alec Baldwin’s film Rustleading to a lot of industry introspection.
Milsome died in November 2017 in Ghana during filming The rise of the Black Earth. An inquest three years later found that he died an “accidental death” but that “Milsome’s risk of injury or fatal injury was not recognised, assessed, communicated or managed shortly before he performed the stunt.”
