We are delighted that our Chair, Abbi Collins, was invited to speak at a recent event hosted by the Production Safety Guild.
During her talk, Abbi reflected on some of the Foundation’s key achievements and future plans and aspirations. Abbi introduced the Foundation’s newest trustees and also shared details of the preparations that already underway for the Foundation’s 10-year anniversary in 2027, which will mark a decade of campaigning for safer working practices across the industry.
The speech also highlighted the success of the Foundation’s ScreenSkills Production Safety Acredited course and its ever increasing uptake. Abbi spoke about her plans to refresh the course content to make sure it remains relevant and up-to-date.
A key theme of the presentation was the importance of tackling fatigue and excessive working hours. Abbi spoke about the Foundation’s support for Bectu’s Broken Turnaround campaign to protect the 11 hour turnaround between shifts, emphasising the important role adequate rest plays in keeping cast and crew safe.
Reflecting on the circumstances surrounding Mark Milsome’s death in 2017, Abbi spoke about all the warning signs and safety concerns that went unaddressed and ultimately led to his death, reinforcing the Foundation’s belief that accidents are mostly caused by a lack of H&S awareness and an inattention to well known safety protocols.
Abbi also highlighted the importance of watching the recently released documentary Safe Sets, which explores health and safety within the screen industries and reveals the shocking H&S breaches on productions which led to devastating consequences.