Occupational Safety, Health and Hygiene in Media Workspaces
This domain tests hazard awareness in studios, sets, edit suites and outdoor locations, plus the ability to apply risk controls in the correct order. Exam questions often ask you to identify the hazard, rate the risk, and choose the control that comes first in the hierarchy.
Core safety rules
- Hierarchy of controls: eliminate, substitute, engineer, administrate, then PPE. PPE is the last line, not the first.
- Risk = likelihood × severity. A low-probability but fatal hazard still ranks high.
- Set hazards: trailing cables, tripods, rigging, hot lights, lamp stands without sandbags, electrical distribution, battery charging, drones, vehicles, and crowd movement.
- Electrical: no water near power, use RCD/ELCB protection, do not overload sockets, inspect cables, tag damaged gear.
- Hygiene: clean shared headphones and microphones, ventilate small edit rooms, keep food away from equipment, maintain hand hygiene on location.
- Ergonomics: monitor at eye level, neutral wrists, regular breaks from repetitive editing and heavy lifting.
Worked example
A power cable crosses a studio walkway. Likelihood of a trip is high and severity could be a fall with injury, so risk is high. Controls: first eliminate the crossing by rerouting; if impossible, use a cable ramp or mat; then mark and brief the crew; PPE such as gloves does not fix the trip hazard. Reasoning: the hierarchy moves from removing the hazard to protecting the person.
Traps that cost marks
- Choosing PPE first for a hazard that can be engineered out.
- Ignoring 'silent' hazards such as heat, noise, dust and fatigue.
- Assuming a fire extinguisher is universal; water is wrong for electrical fires.
- Forgetting to report near-misses.