Health and Safety Advisors (or Consultants) in the film industry give advice on health and safety management systems within each film or production, reviewing each company's Health and Safety policy, and ensuring that health and safety arrangements and the appropriate personnel are in place.

Responsibilities
Most importantly, Health and Safety Advisors assist in the implementation and management of effective risk control.  It is not the Advisors' role to manage health and safety systems within a film production, but to enable relevant members within that production to take health and safety responsibility for themselves.  Advisors give advice and guidance to help set up health and safety management systems, procedures and policies.

Advisors may also be involved in checking contractor competencies, accident reporting, set inspections, training employees, and auditing levels of compliance. Some Advisors are employed on a permanent basis within large film studios, but mostly it is a freelance or part-time role.

Skills
Health and Safety Advisors within the film industry must work with all levels of management and staff, and good communication skills are vital in order to promote and sell the benefits of good health and safety practice, and to discover - and influence - the way people think and behave.  It is a responsible professional job, requiring the ability to manage people, materials and finance.  Advisors must be innovative problem solvers, able to cope in a crisis, and they need to be analytical and decisive. The ability to write logical, precise reports is essential.  Flexibility and adaptability are also very important.

Qualifications/Experience
Knowledge of Health and Safety in the workplace, and an understanding of the film industry are key to this role.  Most Health and Safety begin their careers outside the film industry, and bring their health and safety knowledge and skills to their roles within the industry. 

Training is essential, and specialist Health and Safety Training Courses are available, e.g., NEBOSH and IOSH diplomas.  In order to demonstrate competency, it is also advisable to become a member of the Institution of Occupational Health and Safety.  Continuing professional development is also important within an industry, and a role, which are continually changing.

Individual course accreditation in certain subject areas is currently being piloted. As part of Skillset's and the UK Film Council's Film Skills Strategy, A Bigger Future, a network of Screen Academies and a Film Business Academy have been approved as centres of excellence in education and training for film.

Where to go for more information
Skillset is the Sector Skills Council for the Audio Visual Industries. The first sources of information for all jobs in the industry are the National Occupational Standards. Browse Skillset's website for links to our network of training partners, information about training and access to the comprehensive Skillset/BFI course database. Finally, Skillset Careers is UK's only specialist media careers advice service; for detailed media careers information and advice, visit www.skillset.org/careers.