Health and Safety During Filming

At the Junction the other week, some of the first things that we had to o over were health and safety rules - if anything went wrong without them being discussed, The Junction and/or Long Road could be held responsible. Beneath are the points mentioned:

- Using the cherry picker was strictly a no no. The reasons were simple - falling dangers, setup issues at a gig and booking times when technicians didn't need it.

- Ear plugs were asked to be used a lot too - they stop loud, penetrating noises from damaging the ears, which could therefor be blamed on The Junction. Although, using the ear plugs DID increase our enjoyment of the experience as they removed all the fuzz and distortion from listening to loud noises.

- As well as a similar effect to the ear plugs, the head phones proved useful to monitor the camera volume levels (especially when filming by the stage). This wasn't a health and safety recommendation/rule but it was definitely preferable when it came down to concentrating on camera stats.

- They recommended a break for 5 minutes every hour in order to keep focused and unwind as we'd be on our feet a lot - this seemed pretty unnecessary but did prove useful for when we wanted to interview people in or outside.

- Filming on stage was sometimes a little dangerous due to the drops as well as the lack of space - we'd need to make sure we didn't step back at the wrong time as that could prove dangerous.

- Signing model release forms was unnecessary as in fine-type on the tickets to The Fiver, it said that upon buying the ticket they give permission to be filmed and publicized.

There are a few others that we'd need to worry about when NOT filming too.

- Not staring at the screen too long during editing, sourcing material, typing, atc.
- Being careful with electronic equipment like video cameras, still cameras, laptops, etc.
- No food or drink for reasons above as well as slip hazards.
- 15 minute break every hour to rest the eyes and relax from the work.

And many more trivial issues...