How Do Injuries Occur During Movie and Television Productions?

Accidents during TV and movie productions can stem from many different contributing factors. Understanding them is the best way to prepare sets to avoid them. What looks like a completely safe set may have hidden dangers that create trip and fall hazards. Something as simple as a loose cable on a walkway can result in a serious injury. This guide walks you through some of the most common causes of on-set accidents and how to prevent them.

Lighting and Scenery Equipment With Loose Connections

It’s very normal for film sets to have large lights suspended overhead, along walls, and behind scenery. These lights often hang from mounting brackets and rigging equipment that must be secure at all times to prevent them from falling. If a clamp were to accidentally loosen because of improper installation, a light could fall and crash into the equipment and crew members below, causing serious injuries or even death. The same applies to equipment hooked to hanging walkways, scaffolding, and other overhead structures. This is why it’s so important to carefully inspect every rigging connection each day before starting production.

The film crew should include multiple people in charge of:

Inspecting overhead lighting mounts and safety cables
Checking clamps for loose connections
Inspecting scaffolding and support structures
Checking scenery for unstable attachments
Verifying rigging equipment weight limits
Replacing worn or damaged hardware

Unsafe and Improper Stunt Coordination

Viewers have always loved films with fight scenes, explosions, and intense car crashes. Safely creating these scenes requires highly trained stunt professionals. It also necessitates a crew of safety coordinators who ensure all stunt areas have padding, protective barriers, and emergency equipment to reduce the risk of injuries. Some stunt sequences need people giving visual cues to avoid miscommunication. If even one mistimed cue occurs, it can lead to deadly consequences. Or maybe a stunt performer is attempting a high jump for a scene in an action movie. If a safety harness fails to hold, the performer could tumble down several stories.

Here are some of the most frequent stunt injuries:

Broken arms and legs
Sprained ankles and wrists
Concussions from head impacts
Torn ligaments and tendons
Back and spinal injuries
Neck strains and whiplash
Burns from fire stunts

To prevent these types of accidents, film directors should work closely with stunt coordinators to ensure all equipment is inspected and every stunt is carefully rehearsed before filming.

Extreme Fatigue From Long Work Days

Extreme fatigue doesn’t just affect actors and actresses. It also impacts the camera and equipment crews. When a crew member in charge of moving large lighting fixtures is tired from a 16-hour day on set, there’s a greater risk of accidents. This person could easily trip over cables or drop the heavy equipment. Because of these risks, it’s essential for production managers to create realistic schedules for rehearsals and filming that don’t require excessively long workdays. If a scene has to be filmed during extreme heat, the entire crew should get multiple breaks to ensure they don’t overheat or become dehydrated. Regular breaks are also important when long work days involve filming or setting up equipment during extreme cold. Consulting an experienced work injury lawyer like those at Edwards Law Office, P.C. can help a crew member understand their legal rights and options for compensation if they get hurt on set.

Poor Communication Between Cast and Crew

TV and movie productions have different teams of crew members coming to the set on a regular basis. Some crew members may be present for morning meetings while others only attend filming sessions during the evening or overnight. When this happens, it’s easy for miscommunication to occur between different teams and departments. And that poor communication is a leading cause of on-set accidents. Picture a stunt performer who is supposed to jump from a raised platform, but the rigging crew ends up changing the position of the landing pad. If they don’t communicate the change to the stunt performer, the performer won’t know to adjust where they land.

Other examples of miscommunication that can lead to injuries during film productions:

Starting explosions before everyone clears the area
Turning on overhead lights during electrical repairs
Failing to announce slippery floors after rain scenes
Using smoke machines without notifying the crew
Failing to report damaged electrical cables
Moving large set pieces before clearing walkways

Holding safety and coordination meetings where all cast and crew members are present is an effective way to help prevent miscommunication.

Poorly Lit Safety Signage

Many parts of a movie or TV set have signage to highlight restricted areas, electrical hazards, and dangerous equipment. If those pieces of signage don’t have proper lighting, it becomes difficult for cast and crew members to see them. A crew member walking down a hallway needs to know if the floor has an open trapdoor. Otherwise, they may accidentally trip over or even fall through the opening. Visibility of safety signage becomes even more complicated when there are smoke effects, dim lighting, or dark scenery.

Common injuries from poorly lit signage:

Concussions from head impacts
Cuts from sharp equipment
Burns from hot lighting fixtures
Crush injuries from entering restricted areas
Foot injuries from stepping into openings
Hip fractures from falling down stairs
Leg fractures from falling off platforms

Having one or more crew members who are specifically responsible for inspecting safety signage is a smart way to ensure all warning signs have adequate lighting and remain clearly visible.

Using Firearm Props With Live Ammunition

It doesn’t matter whether a scene involves the use of a real or prop firearm. Live ammunition should never be used. Time and time again, there have been serious accidents from improper firearm handling. A single live bullet can injure or kill someone. Even blank ammunition is dangerous when handled improperly.

Here’s how to prevent firearm-related accidents:

Use non-firing replica firearms whenever possible
Never allow live ammunition on set
Have a qualified armorer supervise firearm use
Keep firearms locked away when not in use
Conduct firearm safety briefings before filming