Health and Safety Policy
Forever Sci-Fi & Fantasy Limited - Health and Safety Policy (Version 2.3)
Initially drafted: 1st September 2021. Last updated: 27th October 2022.
1. Policy Statement
1.1 Forever Sci-Fi & Fantasy Limited (FS-F&F), also referred to within this document as “the company”, acknowledges its responsibilities in implementing the health & safety legislatures required by the United Kingdom. These include the following legislatures (not exhaustive, or comprehensively listing all details of the act(s)/legislation(s)). Full details of each act can be viewed at the following websites: https://www.hse.gov.uk/legislation/index.htm; and/or https://www.legislation.gov.uk/).
1.2 Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, which requires, among other things, that:
• Adequate training of staff to ensure health and safety procedures are understood and adhered to.
• Adequate welfare provisions for staff at work.
• A safe working environment that is properly maintained and where operations within it are conducted safely.
• Suitable provision of relevant information, instruction and supervision.
1.3 The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires:
• making 'assessments of risk' to the health and safety of its workforce, and to act upon risks they identify, so as to reduce them.
• appointing competent persons to oversee workplace health and safety.
• providing workers with information and training on occupational health and safety.
• operating a written health and safety policy.
1.4 The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. The main provisions of these Regulations require employers to provide, for the benefit of their employees:
• adequate lighting, heating, ventilation and workspace (and keep them in a clean condition).
• staff facilities, including toilets, washing facilities and refreshment.
• safe passageways, i.e., to prevent slipping and tripping hazards.
1.5 The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 requires, amongst other things, that employers are required to:
• make a risk assessment of workstation use by DSE users, and reduce the risks identified.
• ensure DSE users take 'adequate breaks’.
• provide regular eyesight tests.
• provide health and safety information.
• provide adjustable furniture (e.g., desk, chair, etc.); and
• demonstrate that they have adequate procedures designed to reduce risks associated with DSE work, such as repetitive strain injury (RSI).
1.6 The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 includes provisions, amongst other things, requiring that employers:
• avoid (so far as is reasonably practicable) the need for employees to undertake any manual handling activities involving risk of injury.
• make assessments of manual handling risks and try to reduce the risk of injury. The assessment should consider the task, the load and the individual's personal characteristics (physical strength, etc.); and
• provide workers with information on the weight of each load.
1.7 The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 includes provisions, amongst other things, requiring employers to:
• ensure the safety and suitability of work equipment for the purpose for which it is provided.
• properly maintain the equipment, irrespective of how old it is.
• provide information, instruction and training on the use of equipment; and
• protect employees from dangerous parts of machinery.
1.8 The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 requires employers, amongst other things, to report a wide range of work-related incidents, injuries and diseases to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), or to the nearest local authority environmental health department. The regulations require an employer to record in an accident book the date and time of the incident, details of the person(s) affected, the nature of their injury or condition, their occupation, the place where the event occurred and a brief note on what happened.
1.9 The Working Time Regulations 1998 (as amended) address, amongst other things, the organisation of working time, and the employment of young workers (under 18 years of age). The Regulations covers the right to annual leave and to have rest breaks, and they limit the length of the working week.
2. Specific policy actions adopted by the company “FS-F&F”, to adhere to the legislation detailed in section 1 (above) Policy Statement of this document.
2.1 To ensure compliance with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974; our agreed policies include that:
• All staff are provided relevant training, and are aware of this health and safety policy, as per the needs of their specific job(s)/task(s)/assignment(s). This is a responsibility of the Director, and/or also the lead photographer for any assignment, and/or the most senior company member in/on an office/site/location.
• Ensure adequate welfare provisions for staff at work. This includes either providing and allowing any worker(s)/employee(s) any required clothing and adequate time, in advance of assignments, so that they can change into them in their own homes in advance, or adequate time and space for them to change into personal clothing in private spaces free from being observed/harassed by others.
• A safe working environment is properly maintained and where operations within it are conducted safely. E.g., if lead photographer assesses that any site is unsafe to continue working at, they will require changes, and if the workplace is still not deemed safe enough, then work will be stopped immediately.
• Suitable provision of relevant information, instruction and supervision.
2.2 To ensure compliance with the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, the company “FS-F&F” has adopted policies requiring that:
• Lead photographer is required to draft and complete a written and recorded ‘assessments of risk' to the health and safety of its workforce document, for each (per day) assignment, and to act upon risks they identify, so as to reduce them, and stop the photo shoot if the risk(s) are unacceptable. A blank template to do so is as per Annex A of this document. However, this document needs to be updated for every assignment, as each assignment is different and will have different issues.
• Appointing competent persons to oversee workplace health and safety. In this case, the lead photographer for any photography assignment. When working in the office/other site(s), the person responsible will be the most senior company representative on the premise(s)/site(s).
The lead photographer will start photo shoot by:
ü Checking and attempting to remove hazards on site.
ü Set up equipment.
ü Advising and providing any required information and training relevant to occupational health and safety for the assignment(s)/work(s)/task(s).
ü Stating in advance to any participants/employees/workers on the day, the location of the first aid kit.
ü Stating in advance to any participants/employees/workers on the day, how to evacuate the site/building in case of fire.
ü State location(s) of nearest toilet, changing area(s), and where refreshments can be taken.
• Director of company has drafted and signed a written health and safety policy, which is contained within this document, and is also available to view on the company website: www.fsff.co.uk
2.3 To adhere to the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, the company agrees that for any specific assignment/work, to allow for:
• adequate lighting, heating, ventilation and workspace (and keep them in a clean condition).
• allow staff to access facilities, such as and including toilets, washing facilities and refreshments, at least every three hours of work/assignment.
• safe passageways, etc., i.e., to prevent slipping and tripping hazards. This includes the lead photographer inspecting sites and studios before use, and taking reasonable steps to remove hazards in advance.
2.4 In order to comply with the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992, the company agrees, for all employees, to:
• make a risk assessment of workstation use by DSE users, and reduce the risks identified.
• ensure DSE users take 'adequate breaks’ (at least five minutes of stretches/walking every one hour, and at least fifteen minutes break every three hours).
• provide regular eyesight tests.
• provide health and safety information.
• provide adjustable furniture (e.g., desk, chair, etc.); and
• demonstrate that they have adequate procedures designed to reduce risks associated with DSE work, such as repetitive strain injury (RSI).
2.5 In order to comply with the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, the company adheres to:
• avoiding (so far as is reasonably practicable) the need for employees to undertake any manual handling activities involving risk of injury. The company does not believe that it is possible to ever completely mitigate the risk of injury to employees, and therefore also adheres to provide employees with a description of the work to be done, to allow them to decide if they wish to still participate. It is adopted company policy that no assignment is ever mandatory for any worker, and refusal by an employee to complete any particular assignment, will have no bearing on any decisions to select them for future assignment(s)/(although they may not be paid if they end a photoshoot/assignment early, but they will be paid up to the point that they were still following instructions).
• make assessments of manual handling risks and try to reduce the risk of injury, as part of the risk assessment process. The assessment should consider the task, the load and the individual's personal characteristics (physical strength, etc.); and
• provide workers with information on the weight of each load which they will be required to handle. This includes listing the weights of any items, props or other, to the worker(s)/employee(s) either in the advert(s) for specific assignment(s) and/or in the contract documentation that the employee is required to sign before working (e.g. Model Release Form).
2.6 The company agrees to adhere to the requirements of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment. This means that the company requires that the lead photographer:
• ensure the safety and suitability of work equipment for the purpose for which it is provided. This includes ensuring that any photographer for an assignment having completed at least a one day workshop with the company whose camera equipment he/she/they decide to use for any assignment (e.g. Fujifilm, Nikon, Canon, Sony, etc.).
• properly maintain the equipment, irrespective of how old it is.
• provide information, instruction and training on the use of equipment to any assistants.
• protect employees from dangerous parts of machinery. This might include easy to enact measures such as keeping props and bags on one side of a studio next to the wall, and not blocking the passageways that worker(s)/employees would normally walk through. However, some solutions might require more expense, and if the company does not have sufficient budget to put in place the required changes, then the photoshoot should be stopped immediately.
2.7 The company agrees to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995. This includes ensuring that someone on behalf of the company, e.g., assumed to be the lead photographer at photoshoot, or most senior employee in an office/other site, unless someone else has been assigned in writing, reports a wide range of work-related incidents, injuries and diseases to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), or to the nearest local authority environmental health department. This includes recording in an accident book the date and time of the incident, details of the person(s) affected, the nature of their injury or condition, their occupation, the place where the event occurred and a brief note on what happened. Annexes to contract(s)/model release form(s) on the day of an assignment, should allow for space to record these details. Please see Annex B of this policy for reference.
2.8 The company agrees to adhere to the requirements of the Working Time Regulations 1998 (as amended). This includes addressing the organisation of working time, and the employment of young workers (under 18 years of age).
The company also agrees to take extra measures to safeguard the health and well-being of those aged under the age of 18. This includes (but is not exhaustive) ensuring that for any employees below the age of 18, or who potentially might be below the age of 18:
· Ensure that all potential employees evidence their age with valid photos ID (student card/driving license/passport) etc., to ensure their age.
· An additional plan is drafted, completed, and submitted for the local council’s approval, addressing the relevant legislation such as, before employing the individual(s).
3. APPROVALS
3.1 This policy is approved by the Director of “Forever Sci-Fi & Fantasy Ltd”, Abdul T. Khan, on 27th October 2022.