Abiding by the legal requirements of health and safety in the production of films and television is not easy. At first sight, much of the law seems to be framed, and much of its interpretation by the Health and Safety Executive seems to be based, on an assumption that everything is done on the same fixed factory floor or in the same unchanging office, and that the nature of the work done is limited and repetitive.

But of course every film, every television programme, is a unique one-off, with its own challenges and problems. By its very nature, the process of making television programmes is not repetitive (even soaps are constantly requiring the people who work on them to do things they have never done before).

That is not an excuse for ignoring your legal health and safety obligations as an employer. Nor is it one for the people you engage (whether employed, self-employed or supplied by a subcontracting company) to ignore theirs. If an accident happens, and death or serious injury results, those responsible can be subjected to large fines. And of course they can also find themselves paying civil damages to those injured or the families of those killed.