Since the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 (Covid 19), production teams have been working tirelessly to enable the cameras to begin rolling again, doing all they can to safeguard their cast and crew in order to facilitate this.

For anybody who works in production, risk and risk mitigation are always at the forefront of the job. Risk assessments are an important and integral part of planning any shoot, and production teams are no strangers to achieving the seemingly impossible against all odds. C-19, as alien as it first seemed, was another challenge that needed to be tackled head on. Rather than thinking “That’s it, we’re done for”, production managers started thinking about how to move forward and find a way through, but do so safely.

And in the early days, when the virus was such an unknown entity, production staff naturally turned to bodies such as the British Film Commission and Producers’ Alliance for Film and Television for advice on how to navigate this new landscape.

The new Covid Supervisor role is born

It was the British Film Commission that first proposed the need for a Covid Supervisor role on set.

“We felt it was important to have a person on set to oversee working practices and health and safety guidelines, as well as be a point of advice for each department”, says Adrian Wooten, chief executive of the BFC.

Thus, with the support of experts in the production health and safety field like First Option Safety - who have advised on shooting in such hostile environments as war-torn countries and those ravaged by infectious diseases such as Ebola (EVD) - the role of the Covid Supervisor was born.

“We were clear this was different to a health and safety consultant working on a production, partly because we could see there weren't going to be enough of them”, says Paul Greeves, Managing Director of First Option Safety.

“It was agreed there needed to be a special role, and maybe more than one, and that those undertaking the role needed to help manage the new and unfamiliar systems and protocols”.

Major changes to the way we work have been an understandable consequence of the pandemic. Productions have been cancelled or delayed, and crew sizes have been reduced to enable safe production to continue, particularly in restrictive spaces.

The new Covid Supervisor role was the perfect match for those with the authority, experience and understanding of the logistics involved in putting on a production. Location Managers and Production Managers, as well as Health and Safety professionals in their thousands, have retrained to continue to work in the industry we all love, either as full-time Covid Supervisors or by taking on dual roles.

So, what does a Covid Supervisor actually do?

The Covid Supervisor is a personality-driven role that requires real resilience. In the role, you are the focal point for all Covid-related questions (and will inevitably get asked the same ones over and over again). You will need to employ your best conflict management skills in order to enforce strict processes, and it is important to remember that some people still don’t believe in the virus and/or don’t understand the impact of their actions around it. This, clearly, is a challenge.

It is the Covid Supervisor’s role to advise on the Risk Assessment, but not to write it. That remains the job of whoever is in charge on set - i.e. the Producer/Director - but the RA can be created as a collaborative effort. The assessment should have the input and full backing of the production team, and its communication to the talent and crew must be fully supported. There can be no exceptions made for talent or senior crew members, however much flexibility they might otherwise be used to on set.

I must stress also, that other H&S elements should not be neglected while catering to Covid safety necessities.

The Covid Supervisor will consider the ‘hierarchy of control’:

Eliminate (i.e suggest virtual meetings where possible to minimise the number of people in one space)
Reduce (i.e enforce reduced contact by making a 2m distance mandator - with the exemption of close contact working where further strict protocols are in place, such as testing)
Isolate (i.e use barriers and screening where appropriate)
Control (i.e take temperatures before going on set, make sure there are enough trained staff to support messages, get signed health declarations for all talent and crew)
PPE (the least effective measure, as this relies on human beings’ individual responsibility).

There will always be residual risk, but ensuring that a number of steps remain in place at all times will minimise the danger and ensure due diligence. The list of practices is vast,and ever-changing depending on circumstances, but the Covid Supervisor does not have to do everything directly themself. Rather they assist, delegate, and oversee.

Overall breakdown of Covid Supervisor duties

Making sure signage and posters are in place to re-enforce messaging (these do not replace direct communication).
Coordinating and implementing cohort systems “bubbles”, and considering access into, out of, and around the set.
Making sure that all crew, talent etc are registered and documented, so that track and trace can be quickly actioned.
Making sure that consent has been granted, and that health declarations have been received. It is a legal requirement for consent to be granted by signature or by the action of pushing a button/ticking.
Advising on appropriate PPE for particular circumstances.
Monitoring the cleaning regimes in place.
Making sure that cleaners, caterers, services etc have been health checked.
Making regular inspections to ensure standards are upheld and rules are being followed. Any gaps should be addressed as discovered, RAs should be updated, and update briefings should be held.
Considering mental health and wellbeing, including anxiety in relation to C-19 and concern with regards to extra time pressure.
Considering, planning, and documentation to facilitate fast implementation of the escalation process. i.e ‘How do you isolate and get people off site quickly if they present or test positive? Who pays for this?’
Being on the lookout for all symptoms. Everyone knows the basic three: High temperature, persistent cough, anosmia (loss of taste and smell), but there are lots of lesser known symptoms, including shortness of breath, chills, muscle pain, headaches, sore throats, and diarrhea.
Having an awareness of how the virus is spread, ie. coughing and sneezing, fecal contamination, and fomites (objects that carry infection, with a 72 hour survival rate).

It is testament to the resilience of those who work in the creative sector that we have been able to continue to produce great content whilst keeping our teams safe from harm.

My hope is that even after C-19 is a distant memory, we never forget that duty of care to each other, and continue to treat risk management as an integral part of our production planning and execution. It is, and always should be, an essential stage of the production process, not a nice-to-have or an afterthought.