“Production Safety During a Pandemic: Lessons Learned and Moving Forward”: Key Takeaways from our Webinar

SetKeeper recently had the pleasure of hosting a webinar together with Axiom Medical where experts in the medical and production safety fields were invited to discuss the state of the pandemic, how guidelines may look moving forward, and tips that can be used to continue keeping your productions safe.

You can find more information about the webinar here and we have summarized the key takeaways we learned from the experts below.

1 — We need to continue being safe not just when we are on set, but also when we are not

Over the course of the pandemic, productions around the world have done an incredible job in managing COVID-19 infections among their crews, which is worth celebrating alone!

However, it is paramount to continue being just as safe as we can when we are not working and moving around our communities.

Even if you have been vaccinated, that does not mean you cannot spread the virus. Using personal protective equipment (PPE) and adhering to protocols as if nobody has been vaccinated is still the safer choice.

2 — Prepare for the long run

Due to the emerging virus variants and prolonged distribution of vaccines, there may not be many changes or easements of protocols for a while. When weighing the risks and benefits to continuing production work, it makes sense to continue being as cautious as we are for the foreseeable future — even if we may see guidelines change among the general population.

The recommendation is to continue incorporating the pandemic into your workflow. Expect to still be working remotely, social distancing and using PPE. If you haven’t already, we highly recommend trying out and integrating even more digital tools into your day-to-day. Reducing the use of paper with apps like SetKeeper can not only help lessen the chance of spreading the virus, but also make you more efficient while reducing your carbon footprint.

3 — Stay vigilant

A lot of the changes we have had to make in our daily lives have become routine. Crews have become so used to filling out health surveys that some have memorized how to answer the questions the quickest in order to receive a cleared-to-work pass. What can result, then, is even when someone is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, they won’t report them on their survey — which defeats the purpose of doing a survey at all!

Bottom line, it is incredibly important to continue using common sense and taking the pandemic seriously. Obviously, remember the basics of washing your hands, not touching your face and social distancing. And, if your crew’s daily health survey does become too routine, perhaps try mixing up the questions on occasion. With SetKeeper’s Daily Health Declaration feature we would be happy to update your crew health surveys in quick turnaround time.

4 — Do not neglect your and your peers’ mental health

Lastly, we cannot forget that in these incredibly stressful times the kind of effect this can have on our mental health. While some people are lucky enough to be able to leave the house, go to work and interact with others, many are still stuck at home in isolation or quarantining.

Remember to talk with your peers, your families and use the resources that are at your disposal if you’re feeling particularly stressed or anxious. Your local unions, guilds or public health offices may have lists of resources to help with self-care.

We’re all in this together and just because you can’t physically see something wrong with someone else, that doesn’t mean their mental health could be in need of support.

Stay safe out there!