More Safety in Production

Somehow many of us abandon reason and good sense when we are behind schedule and have to "get the shot". The pressure to get a shot when things are not going well, which is often in production; we compromise too much and ignore safety.

Working with effects, rigs and unusual situations we are not guided by the regular rules than govern safety when using regular equipment. We tie off lamps overhead. We bag stands that can tip over. We cover hot electrical boxes etc. It's when something unusual happens that there are no standards for safety and accidents happen.

When dealing with many of the non-standard ideas offered in there are dangers because there are not precedents for dealing with the safe use of these ideas. I have offered safety guidelines when I am aware of them, but cannot include all the dangers that using these devices can encounter.

For Example: Anytime a vehicle is used in shooting for something other than transporting people there is danger of the driver not aware of every thing that can go wrong. That is why I recommend that camera car drivers be used for shooting vehicle to vehicle. For helicopter work a trained camera pilot is preferred to battle trained pilot who may be of equal ability to fly the chopper. Seasoned grips are usually more aware of safety than directors and production people.

I have found people from other businesses often abandon their safety rules when helping us "get the shot" when we are running late or things didn't work as well as planned.

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