Purpose
These guidelines are aimed at ensuring a coherent approach to the safety and welfare of children on productions under Covid-19 conditions. These are exceptional circumstances and the standard working practices for productions are changing dramatically to comply with the latest Government advice on Coronavirus (COVID-19).
Several industry bodies, including BECTU and the British Film Commission (BFC) have published production guidance for film and HETV and this document runs alongside these and the Briz Kidz Guidance for Chaperones.
Booking
All chaperones, tutors, parents/legal guardians and children must fill in a medical declaration form before working on any production. This will be submitted as part of the child licence application and you may be contacted by the Local Authority (LA) to complete a separate form closer to the time of filming.
Additional Risk Assessments are required by the LA which will also be sent to all chaperones and tutors working on the production. It may be requested that you self-isolate for up to 14 days before your first working date and during the overall filming period. It may also be requested by productions that a Covid-19 test is taken in the weeks prior to working on set.
When travelling to location, please do not carshare with anyone outside your household or family bubble. Try to minimise travel and follow social distancing principles within travel arrangements wherever possible.
Arrival at Location
All cast, crew and visitors will have their temperature taken on arrival and before permission to enter the site is given.
You may request that you wear PPE (face masks and gloves). These will be provided by the production but it might be preferable to provide your own.
It is essential that all licences are checked and notes made of any special conditions stipulated by the LA.
On Set
Taking into consideration social distancing, the set up for the unit base and locations will be sectioned in to cohorts or departments. This will mean that individual dressing rooms are provided, except in circumstances when a family from the same household. They will be grouped together and it is important to note that if there is more than one child in the household, above the age of 5 and of different genders, they MUST have a partition between them when changing unless a stipulation is provided, in writing, from the licencing council that this regulation is relaxed during this interim period of special circumstance.
Due to social distancing, chaperones will be required to keep the minimum safe distance from the child at all times. Children should only be closely accompanied by a parent. The chaperone must maintain social distancing whilst ensuring, along with the licence holder, that the regulations and any special conditions as outlined in the licence are adhered to.
All parents will be made aware that the chaperone is in charge and to follow their guidance and instructions.
Chaperones must ensure that children and parents adhere to good practice for infection control. This includes
- Social distancing.
- Hand hygiene.
- Not touching the face as much as possible and wash/sanitise hands if face is touched.
- Minimising the touching of shared surfaces (e.g. door-handles, keyboards, table-tops, etc.)
Production will provide handwashing stations and it is essential that everyone involved with the production applies good practice in hand hygiene. Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds, using soap and water or a hand sanitiser when you:
- get home or into work
- blow your nose
- sneeze or cough
- eat or handle food
It is possible that travel between unit base and location will be on foot. Minibuses will be dedicated to a department, please ensure that social distancing is observed during transport.
Whilst on set, please stay within your dedicated area and ensure that there are separate holding areas for each child/family.
If a child, parent or chaperone develops symptoms whilst at work they should go home immediately and inform Briz Kidz. It might be necessary for all parties to leave due to working nature and child welfare practices (should a chaperone need to leave, a child cannot be left unsupervised).
If the person is then tested positive for COVID-19 it is essential that Briz Kidz is notified.
Additional Information
All chaperones must ensure they follow the latest guidelines as set out by the Public Health England (PHE) guidance, good hygiene and working practices.
Chaperones should keep their forms in a plastic, cleanable wallet.
Age Groups
The ability for children to understand the restrictions of Covid-19 and safe working practises, Chaperones need to be aware that children of each age group should be considered differently:
- 0-4 years: Serious consideration is needed as to whether these children should be allowed on set as they generally do not understand the nature of social distancing and will likely breach social distancing guidelines during filming or any other activities on site. Their lack of understanding presents an extremely high risk of accidental transmission to the crew. If the child cannot yet walk, they pose a much smaller risk and therefore should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
- 5-8 years old: Emotional maturity in this age bracket is extremely varied and production are advised to consider the type of involvement required and the child’s understanding before casting. In order to assess the risk posed, an appropriate adult (to avoid conflict of interest, not the parent) with experience working with children (i.e. chaperone) must be consulted to assess the child’s behaviour and ability to understand the nature of the restrictions. Based on this, the appropriate adult can advise whether the child poses too much of a risk to the crew or can work appropriately.
- 9+ years old: child should be safe to follow guidelines on set, but carefully monitored during working hours.