I’ve been asked to do the risk assessment?
It is still relatively rare for Location Managers to be asked to prepare RAMS, but it does happen. On some productions, especially where company policy requires Heads of Department to complete departmental risk assessments, Locations may be expected to deal with general location based RAMS.
The best starting point will almost always be to ask for a Health and Safety adviser, consultant or company to take the lead, or at least to provide oversight. That is usually the safer and more appropriate approach. But where that is not offered and an LM is being asked to take it on, it is important to understand what sits within the role, what support should be in place, and what questions should be asked before agreeing to do it.
This guide sets out the key points members should know.
What is a risk assessment and a method statement?
A risk assessment is the process of identifying hazards, deciding who might be harmed and how, assessing the risks, recording the control measures, and reviewing whether those controls remain suitable. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) describes it as part of a step by step process for controlling health and safety risks at work.
A method statement is different. It is generally the practical document that explains how work will actually be carried out safely. HSE describes a method statement as setting out, in a logical sequence, how a job is to be carried out in a way that secures health and safety and includes the control measures. In practice, many productions combine these into RAMS, meaning risk assessments and method statements.
Put simply, the risk assessment identifies the hazards and controls. The method statement describes the safe way the work will be done.
Why do we need them?
Risk assessments are a legal requirement where work activities could expose people to harm. HSE says employers must make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to workers and others affected by the work. In production terms, that can include cast, crew, contractors, members of the public, visitors and anyone else affected by filming activity.
HSE also makes clear that generic copied assessments are not enough. The assessment must reflect the actual hazards and controls for the specific job. For Locations, that often means looking at practical issues such as access and egress, vehicle movements, public interaction, trip hazards, uneven ground, water, stairs, restricted escape routes, welfare limitations, lighting conditions, local traffic, neighbouring properties, and site rules. But it can also mean recognising when an issue crosses into specialist territory and needs another competent department or adviser involved.
Who should usually do them, and why?
In legal terms, the responsibility sits with the production company (employer) to ensure suitable risk assessments are carried out and that competent help is appointed where needed. In film and TV, HSE’s industry guidance states that the producer is responsible for ensuring that risk assessments are completed, even where the task is delegated to others such as a production manager, head of department, location manager or unit manager.
Here is the key thing: It is all about competence and remit.
The person preparing the assessment should have enough knowledge, training, skill and experience to understand the activity, identify the hazards, apply suitable controls, and know the limits of their own competence. HSE says competence depends on the complexity of the situation and the help required.
Locations can absolutely contribute valuable, practical, location specific knowledge. In many cases, LMs are well placed to identify obvious site hazards, access issues, public interface, traffic movement, terrain, welfare limitations and other operational points that need to be reflected in the assessment. Used properly, that can be a sensible and helpful part of production planning. But that is different from an LM being left to carry unsupported responsibility for wider health and safety duties that sit with production.
Specialist assessments should always sit with the relevant specialist. Examples might include complex stunts, specialist rigging, structural issues, diving, marine work, lifting operations, confined spaces, hazardous substances, high risk electrical work, or any other area requiring technical expertise beyond general location knowledge. HSE also notes that more than one person may be needed where specialist knowledge is involved.
Advice if you are asked to do them
If a production expects a Location Manager to prepare general location risk assessments, then it is entirely reasonable for that LM to expect proper training, clear boundaries, enough time, and meaningful support in return. This should not be treated as something that can simply be handed over without thought because “that’s how this production does it.” Risk assessment is not just admin. It is a safety critical task, and if production wants it done properly, they need to make sure the person doing it has the right skills, knowledge, training and experience.
What to ask production in return:
Ask what training has been provided for carrying out risk assessments, and whether the production considers that training sufficient for the type of assessment they want you to do.
Ask what template, guidance or existing process you are expected to follow, rather than being left to draft something from scratch.
Ask who will be reviewing the document before it is signed off or issued, and whether Health and Safety or production will be feeding into that review.
Ask exactly what you are being asked to cover, and where the line is between general location issues and specialist risks that should sit with another department or competent adviser.
Ask why production considers this part of your remit on that particular job, and whether that was part of the role they expected you to undertake from the outset.
Ask what due diligence has been done to confirm that you are considered competent to carry out the task.
Ask what happens if you identify risks that fall outside your knowledge, experience or control, and who those issues should be escalated to.
Ask whether there is enough time built into the job to do the assessment properly, including any updates if circumstances change.
These are not awkward questions. They are sensible ones, and if a production expects you to take on a safety critical task, they should be able to answer them clearly.
Just as importantly, members should know that if none of that has been provided, and something goes wrong, the responsibility does not simply fall onto them by default. If a production has failed to provide the right training, failed to define the task properly, failed to check competence, or failed to put a proper review process in place, that is first and foremost a failure on the employer’s side. Production cannot simply say “the LM did the risk assessment” and step away from responsibility if they have not put a competent system behind that expectation.
That does not mean members should ignore concerns about their own competence. If you know you are being asked to do something outside your knowledge or experience, you should say so clearly and early, and if you do not think you are competent then you should not willingly complete a RA. Where proper support, training and oversight have not been provided, that is not something an LM should feel they have to quietly absorb on their own.
Basic Health and Safety awareness training may be useful background, but it should not be treated as automatic proof that someone is competent to draft and own risk assessments in isolation. The level of training and support needed depends on the task, the risks involved, and the complexity of the job. A general awareness course is not the same thing as being properly equipped to carry out a safety critical assessment without guidance or review.
Bectu’s position
Bectu’s view is that members are right to be concerned if they are being asked to carry out risk assessments without being suitably competent to do so.
The union’s advice is that health and safety law requires employers to appoint competent people to help them meet their legal responsibilities, including carrying out risk assessments. That responsibility remains with the employer, meaning the production company. They can appoint someone internally or bring in outside expertise, but either way they must satisfy themselves that the person they appoint is competent.
Bectu’s position is that, in principle, it can be acceptable for Location Managers to carry out risk assessments if three things are true:
first, it is clear before they start the job that this forms part of their responsibilities
second, they are genuinely competent to carry them out, including having some training in the process and understanding of what the law expects
third, the employer has carried out due diligence beforehand to confirm that competence
Otherwise, it should not be happening.
Bectu also highlighted an important point for self employed members. If a member carries out a risk assessment they are not competent to do, and someone is injured because of shortcomings in that assessment, the primary focus of HSE would likely be on why the production company allowed an incompetent person to undertake that task. But HSE may also ask why the member agreed to carry out work for which they were not competent. That is why members should be careful about simply accepting the task without training, support or clarity.