Spain

[ES] COVID-19 Guidelines for safety in film productions issued by ICAA

IRIS 2020-7:1/29

Enric Enrich / Elena Pagés

Croma-Copyrait - Barcelona / Lawyer - Barcelona

On 14 May 2020, the Institute of Cinematography of Audiovisual Arts (ICAA) issued its Guidelines of good practices on special measures for the prevention of risks at work in the audiovisual sector, a series of preventive measures against the coronavirus approved by the Spanish Government and applicable when shooting in Spain in the initial phase of the process of deconfinement.

With the publication of the aforementioned guidelines, the ICAA has provided the Spanish film industry with some basic, non-binding guidelines and recommendations on the prevention and protection measures to be followed in order to work safely in audiovisual productions, all of which are in compliance with the current occupational health and safety regulations.

Both the Association of Audiovisual Production Professionals (APPA) and the National Institute of Safety and Health at Work (INSST) were involved in the elaboration of the guidelines by providing generic measures which are well known to the general public at this stage (keeping the minimum distance (2 m); washing one's hands frequently; covering one's mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing; avoiding touching one's eyes, nose and mouth; disinfecting frequently touched surfaces, etc.) as well as more specific measures for each of the departments involved in the production and post-production of an audiovisual work (production, direction, art, make-up, lighting, post-production, etc.).

Furthermore, all the agents involved in an audiovisual production are encouraged to act jointly in order to mitigate all potential risks. To this end, the ICAA encourages the implementation of a Contingency Plan for Occupational Health and Safety on the COVID-19 that will force production companies to carry out more thorough planning in pre-production and to even review or adjust the scripts in order to guarantee greater safety during filming.

These guidelines are intended to be adapted to the changes and needs that will be required in the light of the evolution and experience of the pandemic after evaluating the impact of the measures that have been adopted so far. Therefore, issues such as travelling abroad to make audiovisual productions have not yet been covered by these guidelines.