Health & Safety

You have been asked to photograph the Cliffs of Whitby or Saltburn from the bottom and the top for a travel guide.

Risk

• The risk of being at this location is that as you are high up when on top of the cliff, you could fall from a great height and severely injure yourself. You could also injure yourself at the bottom of the cliff as rocks could fall from higher up the cliff and onto you causing injury.
• The weather could also pose as a problem as if it is raining/snowing the cliff could become very slippery and cause you to fall over. on the other hand, the sun could cause your vision to be impaired and therefore make you fall over.
• Your equipment could become a health and safety risk while on a cliff because it would be quite heavy to carry up. this could mean that you fall under the pressure of carrying it, or you could even accidentally drop it onto a person  climbing behind you or even on yourself. this could cause them quite a serious injury depending on the force.

How to prevent

• To prevent yourself from falling off the cliff, you could but up some sort of barriers near the cliff face. this way, even if you weren't paying attention to where you where going whilst photographing, you wouldn't be able to go somewhere potentially dangerous without knowing. you could also apply this to the bottom of the cliff, you could place barriers in areas where rocks are most likely to fall, therefore ensuring that you stay away from those areas and don't put yourself in danger.
• To prevent slipping when it has rained or snowed, you could wear appropriate clothing such as walking boots that have extra grip on the bottom to prevent falling. Also, to stop yourself being blinded by the sun, you could make sure you wear sunglasses.
• To make sure your equipment does not cause any issues, you could share the load of it by getting people to help you carry it, as well as putting it in backpacks which would make it easier to carry. You could also carry it up to the top of the cliff in a car if possible.

A fashion shoot by a river side

Risk

• This location could be a health and safety risk because someone could fall into the river, especially if they cannot swim.
• If it is raining then the river bank could become very muddy and slippery and cause someone to slip over. Snow could also cause problems, as in the winter the river may have frozen over, and if it is covered by snow then people may not see which bit is the river and they could fall through the ice.
• The equipment could be a safety hazard at this location as if you have electrical lighting, they could accidentally get wet and electrocute someone.

How to prevent

• To prevent someone possibly falling in the river and drowning, you could make sure to set up a fair distance away from the edge of the river. you could also make sure that you have a lifeguard there, or someone who does know health & safety, so that if someone did fall in you're prepared.
• To prevent slipping over if the ground gets muddy when it's been raining, you could put some sheets down on the floor during the photo shoot so you don't have to walk on the slippery ground.
• You could prevent the lighting equipment getting wet from the river by possibly securing and covering up anything that could become a hazard and keeping it all well away from the water.

wildlife shots at a woodland location

Risk

• A risk about this location would be that the ground would not be very even, and you are likely to trip over things like tree roots etc.
• Problems could occur with the weather here as there would probably be no shelter nearby if it rained. This could mean that all the equipment could get wet and possibly malfunction or electrocute someone.
• The problem with the equipment in this location could be that there may be wildlife about who try to tamper with the equipment, and it may be dangerous to them

How to prevent

• You could prevent tripping on uneven ground by perhaps putting down temporary wooden flooring to make it even and safe.
• To keep the weather from getting wet and possibly electrocuting someone, you could make sure it is covered at all times and possibly bring some sort of pop up shelter if it does start to heavily rain.
• To prevent wildlife tampering with the equipment and getting hurt, you could make sure it all stays in a secure place at all times and is always watched.

High building/structure from a height

Risk

• The risk of this location is that you could fall and severely hurt yourself as it would be from a great height.
• The weather could cause a health & safety risk on this shoot as you are likely to be outside, which means if it rains the surface you're shooting on is going to get slippy and you're more likely to slip and fall.
• Equipment could be a hazard at this location as if you accidentally drop it, it will be from a great distance and if it falls on someone on the ground below it will cause them great injury.

How to prevent

• To prevent from falling from this height, you could make sure all edges have a barrier up so you cant possibly get over, and also that the whole structure you're on is stable and safe.
• In order to stop the rain from making you slip, you could make sure the whole structure you are on is under a shelter and therefore protected from the rain.
• You could prevent dropping your heavy equipment onto someone below by making sure there is also something quite close underneath where you're holding that would stop it falling before it reached the ground. You could also make sure you don't hold it near the edge where it could fall that far down.

Busy town centre in rush hour for a local newspaper

Risk

• This location could be a health & safety issue because as it would be very busy people may knock into you and whilst they are walking.
• The weather could cause problems in this location because in winter if it's snowy or icy it may be unsafe conditions to be out in.
• The equipment may cause problems because it would be in people's way when they're walking about. They could trip over equipment left on the floor.

How to prevent

• You could prevent people knocking into whilst they're walking by cornering off an area to work in so people can't get too close.
• To stop the weather causing problems at this location, you could make sure you're dressed appropriately and try to get the shoot done asap.
• So people don't trip over the equipment that is possibly left on the floor, you could make sure you don't leave too much out and that it is all kept in a secure, safe place.

Studio fashion shoot for magazine

Risk

• In this shoot there is likely to be a lot of extra equipment used, which means that you could trip over wires etc.
• Equipment such as the lights could possibly burn you if you're not careful.

How to prevent

• You could prevent tripping over wires by making sure they are all grouped together and not anywhere near where people need to be walking about.
• You could avoid burning yourself on the lights by handling them very carefully and waiting until they have cooled down to touch any of them.