The safety of both our people and others we work with is our highest priority at Boom Cymru. As part of ITV, we are proud to be leading in our industry on getting people back to work in a safe and supported way, to allow us to continue to produce and broadcast high quality content to our audiences.
We continue to support the ITV duty of care charter and comprehensive operational risk management systems across our business, to manage safety and health risks.
We have assessed the risk of COVID-19 at Boom Cymru through application of government guidance, and in relation to filming, ITV have produced guidance on safe filming activity during COVID-19, alongside other leading broadcasters and authorities, to develop a consistent and practical approach.
We have continued a number of key activities throughout lockdown and not rushed into re-mobilisation of those activities that we paused. We have taken time to reflect and prepare for a staged return to our new normal. We expect our approach to evolve as we learn and adapt to the ongoing challenges of COVID-19.
How we are keeping people safe
We are focusing on the following areas to ensure we manage the spread of infection from COVID-19, carrying out specific assessments for productions and our offices and engaging with workforce throughout the process:
- In our offices
- Minimising – minimising numbers of people in the office at any time.
- Communicating – ensuring those who have symptoms or are ill know not to come into work.
- Commuting – considering risks in commuting especially on public transport, introducing mitigations such as staggered start times.
- Social Distancing – making every effort to ensure social distancing is adhered to from space planning to protocols and signage.
- Cleaning – increasing cleaning protocols.
- Face covering – providing washable face coverings to those who may require them on a commute and/or for wearing in circulation spaces of the office where social distancing may be accidently breached at times.
- Monitoring – regularly reminding people of the new COVID-19 working practices (such as social distancing).
- In our production activities
- Travel – seeking to minimise travel requirements and follow social distancing principles within travel arrangements, wherever possible.
- Location – considering the physical capacity of space used, given the requirements of social distancing, as well as ensuring the provision of adequate hygiene facilities.
- Work Activities – considering the activities that people are going to need to undertake across roles in a production and if these can be adapted or changed to reduce risk.
- Work Equipment – managing the sharing of work equipment which is key to TV production from cameras and headsets to edit suites. Focusing on good hygiene and managing potential issues with touchpoints.
- Work Patterns – reviewing work patterns to encourage small groups (cohorts) of people who don’t come into contact with other groups.
- Rest Areas – reconfiguring rest areas and planning breaks to ensure rest areas are as safe as possible.
- First Aid and Emergency services – planning activities to reduce the risk of requiring emergency services to be called as well as advice to first aiders on COVID-19 risk.
- Masks, Gloves and Other Personal Protective Equipment – supporting government guidance by not encouraging usage other than in very limited circumstances (e.g. when filming in higher Covid-19 risk settings such as hospitals) and for those travelling on public transport.
- Mental Health – reviewing the potential mental health impact for those working on productions and considering support on a case by case basis.
We are passionate about everyone having a voice which is listened to, so if you are concerned about anything relating to our duty of care and, more specifically, the risks associated with coronavirus (COVID-19) to you or others, please let us know at hr@boomcymru.co.uk
