Set Safety Orientation

Everyone's job

The 1st AD runs safety on set. They hold a safety meeting at call every day, and another before anything unusual: stunts, picture cars, special effects, prop weapons, work at height or near water.

But safety isn't only theirs. Anyone on set can call a hold for safety: a grip, a PA, an actor, someone in background. Say it on the radio or out loud: "Hold the roll for safety." No one will be angry that you called it.

See it, call it, then fix it or get the person who can.

Walkways, cable and stands

Trips and falls are the most common injuries on a set, and most of them start with cable.

• Cable runs along walls. If it has to cross a walkway or a doorway, it goes under a mat or a cable ramp, taped down.
• Stands with an arm out get a sandbag, always. Point the high leg under the load and saddle the bag over it. More weight for wind or a heavy light.
• Don't move another department's stand or cable. Ask them.

If you'd trip on it in the dark, so will someone else.

Overhead, ladders and lifting

Listen for the calls. Crew shout them when they're moving through with something that can hurt you:

• Ladders: one person on the ladder, one at the bottom footing it. Nobody walks under work overhead.
• Lifting: lift with your legs, ask for a second person, use the cart.

Look up when you walk onto a set, and use the calls yourself.

Electrical and lights

• Only electricians touch the generator, the distribution boxes and the connections. The generator has a keep-clear zone.
• Lights stay hot long after they're switched off. Gloves, or leave it to electric.
• Water and power don't mix. When it rains, cables come off the ground and connections get covered. If you see a cable in water, don't touch it: call electric.

If it's plugged in and it isn't your department's, don't touch it.

Specialist work

Stunts, picture cars, special effects and prop weapons happen only with their specialist present and a safety meeting first.

• Keep clear of the action area and the vehicle's path. Never stand behind a car that's reversing: the driver can't see you.
• Prop weapons: only the armourer hands them out, takes them back and checks them. Treat every one as real.

If it's specialist work, you're either part of it or out of it.

Fatigue, weather and the drive home

• There are at least 10 hours between wrap and the next crew call. Long days still add up over a week.
• Too tired to drive home? Tell the 2nd AD. The production can arrange a ride or a room, and that's far cheaper than a crash.
• Heat, cold and rain: water, layers and breaks. Lightning stops exterior work.

The most dangerous part of a shoot day is often the drive home.

When something happens

• First aid kit: at the production table at basecamp and on the set cart. If there's a set medic, they're on the call sheet.
• Nearest hospital: on every call sheet.
• Report every incident, and every near miss, to the 1st AD the same day. Near misses are how the next accident gets prevented.

Nobody gets in trouble for reporting.

Hazard hunt: Rosie's Diner

This is the diner set after lunch on Day 2. Eight things here are unsafe. Tap anything that looks wrong. Some things are set up properly, and tapping those will tell you so.

Show me all eight

The hazards

1. Cable across the entrance with no mat. Run it round the doorway, or cover it with a mat or a cable ramp.
2. A C-stand with its arm out and no sandbag. High leg under the load, sandbag over it.
3. Someone up a ladder with nobody footing it. One on the ladder, one at the bottom.
4. A stinger lying in water by the sink. Don't touch it; call electric.
5. A hot light at head height in the walkway. Move it, or flag and mark it.
6. Cases blocking the fire exit. Exits stay clear, always.
7. Someone sitting on the dolly track. It's not a bench, and the dolly may be coming.
8. The first aid kit buried under jackets. Clear and visible on every set.

Three quick calls

Knowledge check

Eight questions. You need seven right to pass. Each answer explains itself.

Before your first day

For the producer and 1st AD: how we'll know this orientation worked, the four-level evaluation plan.

More: Your First Day as a PA · Reading a Call Sheet · all samples