PERFORMANCE INDUSTRY
Hello, and welcome to our Ministry of Labour health and safety podcast.
On today's segment, we're going to the movies, the theatre, a TV studio, and a concert. We're going to discuss workplace health and safety in the performing arts.
Ontario has one of the largest film and television production industries in North America. Film and TV, along with live theatre and other performing events are some of the most important contributors to Ontario's economic activity. In fact, in 2011, production companies spent a grand total of $1.13 billion filming on-location in Toronto.
And that's just one part of the performing arts industry.
Whether performers are entertaining audiences at a theatrical or music production, or living the, at times, exciting and glamorous life of working in the movie business, performers have to be mindful of workplace health and safety.
Various types of production have their own unique and unusual hazards.
Whether it's performing or filming a stunt, erecting stage and movie sets, working as a musician in an orchestra pit, or wrangling live animals, running the lights, or setting off pyrotechnics at a rock concert … all performing industry occupations have their own unique hazards.
Over the years, the Ministry of Labour has worked with advisory groups from a number of performance industry disciplines.
The results of these collaborations are three extensive guidelines. They are:
• The Safety Guidelines for the Film and Television Industry in Ontario
• The Safety Guidelines for the Live Performance Industry in Ontario
• And the Child Performers Guideline
The Guidelines for Film and Television outline recommended best practices in a number of instances, including camera cranes, scaffolding, stunts, sky diving, hair and make-up, using firearms, handling live animals, working at heights, and even craft service and food catering … and many more.
The guidelines provide realistic procedures to develop methods for identifying and controlling potential hazards in these environments.
They were developed with the assistance of representatives of a number of film and TV organizations including ACTRA, IATSE, NABET, the Directors Guild of Canada, the Canadian Film and Television Producers Association and others.
It should be noted that safe procedures do not involve losing the appearance of risk that can be such a vital quality of the production. They're there to protect the workers in the film and television industry.
The Guidelines for the Live Performance Industry focus on other hazards such as orchestra pits, performer flying and aerial stunts, pyrotechnics, stage combat stunts and weaponry, rigging and fall arrest … and other hazards common to the live performance industry.
Again, these guidelines were created with input from a number of live performance organizations and other experts in the various disciplines. They are there to protect workers, and, by extension, the audiences at a live performance.
The third guideline is aimed at child performers.
This guideline has been developed for paid child performers in the entertainment industry who are working in live performance, film, television, or another recorded medium.
A child performer is someone in the business who is under eighteen years of age. An infant performer is under two years of age.
Child performers are special and need particular care and protection. Hazards found on the set or in the theatre can be much more extreme for a child performer.
This is due to the child's smaller physical size, lower tolerance to chemical hazards or temperature extremes, shorter attention span, and the expectation that child performers may not behave responsibly at all times with respect to their own health and safety, among other factors.
In addition to protecting them from hazards, child performers must be treated with respect at all times. No child performer may be physically punished or subjected to other harmful, frightening or humiliating treatment.
Parents also have an important role to play when their children are contracted to work, and must be included in discussions about the roles and responsibilities of the workplace parties, the parents and the child performer.
For certain performers, a parent or an adult chaperone must be present.
The guidelines discuss various steps that should be taken, depending on the type of production and the age of the child performer.
These guidelines were developed with the assistance of the Ministry of Labour's Live Performance, and Film and Television Health and Safety Advisory Committees.
If you, or your child, are involved in the performance industries, we strongly encourage you to refer to these three guidelines.
You can find them on our website.
Go to Ontario.ca - forward slash - labour. That's L-A-B-O-U-R. Once again … Ontario.ca - forward slash - labour. That's L-A-B-O-U-R.
Go to our Health and Safety section. There, on the left side, you'll see "Topics and Publications". Click on that link, scroll down to Performance Industry. There, you'll see the links to the three guidelines.
The performance industry is exciting and glamorous. It should also be safe for those working in it.
And that's it for this health and safety segment.
Thank you for listening.