First Option

02/10/2024

❗ We are currently open to applicants who are interested in full-time positions, based in London.

We are the largest, most experienced safety consultancy, serving the media and entertainment industry all over the world. We specialise in TV and film production from the biggest dramas and action films through studio entertainment and factual programmes to live events like premieres, festivals and sporting events.

Health and Safety ConsultantDo you want to work in the exciting world of television, film, and events? If so, a role with First Option is the perfect opportunity for you. We’re...

04/04/2022

First Option have partnered with The Frontline Club to provide delegates with a brand new Travel Safety & First Aid workshop.

The overall aim of the two-day workshop is to provide freelance media workers with an increased awareness of critical travel safety and First Aid skills and knowledge to help them operate in difficult and challenging situations.

For more information and to register your space, please click here: https://frontlineclub.glueup.com/event/first-option-2-day-travel-safety-frontline-first-aid-workshop-51486/?pk_campaign=widget-event-list

First Option's hostile environment and first aid training courses are the leading courses to prepare journalists for working in hostile environments such as Ukraine frontline.

30/03/2022

A huge congratulations to our wonderful clients on their 2022 Television nominations! 🎥

· 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (Zeppotron)
· Alma’s Not Normal (Expectation)
· Brassic (Mammoth Screen)
· Call My Agent (Bron Studios)
· I can See Your Voice (Fremantle)
· Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back (Rumpus)
· Landscapers (Sister Pictures)
· Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel (Hungry Bear)
· Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK (World of Wonder)
· S*x Education (Eleven Film)
· Starstruck (Avalon)
· Stephen (Hat Trick)
· The Girl Before (42 M&P)
· The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan (Expectation)
· The Pursuit of Love (Moonage)
· The Ranganation (Zeppotron)
· The Tower (Mammoth Screen)
· This Way Up (Merman)
· Time (BBC Studios)
· Tokyo 2020 Olympics (OBS, BBC)
· Too Close (Snowed In Productions)
· Unforgotten (Mainstreet Pictures)
· Vigil (World Productions)
· We are Lady Parts (NBC)
· You Don’t Know Me (Snowed In)

The full list of nominations can be found here:

https://lnkd.in/d-ymSewC

Explore the nominations for the 2022 Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards and British Academy Television Craft Awards. Scroll past the gallery for the lists in full. The Virgin Media BAFTA TV Awards will take place on Sunday 8 May and the TV Craft Awards on Sunday 24 April. Read the headli...

21/03/2022

Three additional First Option courses have now been accredited under the ScreenSkills Production Safety Passport Scheme.

The Production Safety Passport (PSP) is an industry-led scheme to support the mutual recognition of health and safety training in the creative media industries. The scheme helps productions stay safe by ensuring crew and management have quality training, enabling delegates with the confidence that they are benchmarked by industry-approved health and safety training.

We are delighted to announce that the following First Option courses have been successfully accredited under the scheme:
-Senior Managers Briefing
-Risk Management on Production
-Online Risk Awareness (RAW)

Fore more information, please click below.

First Option courses accredited under the ScreenSkills Production Safety Passport SchemeThe Production Safety Passport (PSP) is an industry-led scheme to support the mutual recognition of health and safety training in the creative media industries. The scheme helps productions stay safe by ensuring....

04/03/2022

IOSH Magazine's article 'Fatigue in the Broadcast Industry' discusses long working hours in the TV and film industry.

First Option Safety’s Managing Director, Paul Greeves, says that excessive working time, which is largely driven by cost, is a false economy. Putting mental and physical OSH risks aside, it’s bad business. The inefficiency, stress, chaos, absenteeism and potential accidents that can result are potentially more costly than the extra time. And it’s no way for people to be at their creative best.

Click below to read the full article.

The dangerous levels of fatigue in the TV and Film industry have broader lessons for OSH professionals.

26/01/2022

First Option launches Risk Management of Productions course!

Producers who have responsibility for health and safety can now take our new Risk Management of Productions (RMP) course. This new course is designed to equip responsible producers with the health, safety and environmental knowledge production staff at all levels of responsibility need to make content safely.

The RMP course retains key health and safety content but has been expanded to cover non-physical risks such as mental health, wellbeing and resilience.

First Option launches Risk Management of Productions courseProducers who have responsibility for health and safety can now take our new Risk Management of Productions (RMP) course which replaces the Safe Management of Productions course. This new course is designed to equip responsible producers wit...

30/11/2021

If your production involves stories around vulnerable contributors, or the content is likely to be distressing/challenging then you should consider your duty of care to your contributors and the production staff involved in capturing and dealing with those stories. The psychological risks and impact of this type of work can, and should be managed carefully.

First Option’s Medical Officer, and experienced associate psychologist, are able to offer a tailored package of support, including help with your risk assessments, developing protocols for duty of care and supporting you as you plan how you will undertake your programme with the least possible risks to contributors and your staff. In addition, we can deliver training courses tailored to your needs in for example Interviewing and dealing with vulnerable contributors, dealing with traumatic imagery and maintaining your mental wellbeing.

Click the link below for more info.

Psychological Safety in Productions Involving Challenging Material or Vulnerable Contributors If your production involves stories around vulnerable contributors, or the content is likely to be distressing/challenging then you should consider your duty of care to your contributors and the production...

18/11/2021

The European Music Awards (EMAs) celebrates both the best music and the biggest global artists of the year. Last year’s pandemic restrictions meant that the had to be delivered without an audience, without in-person awards and with performances streamed from different European locations. This year Budapest🇭🇺 hosted a return to the familiar format of a single Awards and Concert, complete with huge stars, in person awards and concert audiences.

First Option provided the MTV EMAs with COVID-19 safety services, including protocols development and on site compliance support. We embedded Hannah Clark and Jamie Jones with the ViacomCBS Safety team as their -19 Project Managers in advance of and during the event. We supported on the ground in Budapest with First Option COVID-19 Compliance Officers during both the build / rigging for the events and for the weekend’s concerts and Sunday night ceremony.

This was an extremely complex event with an extraordinary number of moving parts, encompassing high profile artists, dancers, crews, contractors and audiences. We are delighted that the tireless and high professional work of the team contributed to the successful delivery of such a visually and musically spectacular show. A big thank you to Hannah Clark, Jamie Jones, Lucas Griffin, Shlomi Dadush, Jim Allen, Gav Emmerson, Charles Jaques and Andy McFarlane.

11/11/2021

The recent relaxation of international travel restrictions has allowed the First Option Training Team to resume its highly regarded international training courses in several key locations across Europe, Asia & Africa.

Our intensive training courses cover a wide range of vital operational skills for Government, Media, NGO, Aid & Charity organisations in Travel Health and Safety, Security, Risk Assessment, Operational Awareness, First Aid, Trauma Management and Casualty Evacuations. The team deliver using detailed presentations, group assignments, practical sessions and realistic high-fidelity scenarios.

For more information, please click below

First Option: UK and International TrainingThe recent relaxation of international travel restrictions has allowed the First Option Training Team to resume its highly regarded international training courses in several key locations across Europe, Asia & Africa.  Since we recommenced face to face re...

01/11/2021

🚨First Option releases Management of COVID-19 on Productions Update and Recaps, a recap of Managing COVID-19 on Productions🚨

COVID-19 will be a feature of our lives for the foreseeable future, so we need to learn to live with it and manage the risk to ourselves and others.

This 1.5 hour briefing is a revamped replacement version of our Managing COVID-19 Risks on Productions course. Based on feedback we’ve received over the past few months, we decided that the course needed some alterations – it’s less about the nature of the virus (which is now well understood), and more about the recent lifting of legal restrictions across the UK and other territories; the latest industry advice on key topics such as positive case management, close contact work and quarantining; the impact of variants and the current vaccination rollout; and the efficacy of the various testing techniques currently available to productions and how we should consider managing productions going forward.

For more information, or to make a booking, visit the First Option website below.

First Option releases Management of Covid-19 on Productions Update and Recaps, a recap of Managing Covid-19 on ProductionsCOVID-19 will be a feature of our lives for the foreseeable future, so we need to learn to live with it and manage the risk to ourselves and others.This 1.5 hour briefing is a re...

28/10/2021

Picturesque images from Greenland! 🇬🇱

After 10 weeks, Safety Consultant, James Dyer, has arrived back to the UK from Southern Greenland where he has been providing medic support, pre-shoot and on-site safety support.

The production was not without its challenges and despite the remote location, adverse weather and hardships of operating a gold mine in this part of the world, the shoot has been brought to a successful completion.

26/10/2021

Last Thursday, after being told the Western-style revolver was “cold” – safe to fire – Rust actor and producer Alec Baldwin shot in the direction of his camera crew, killing director of photography Halyna Hutchins, 42, and injuring director Joel Souza, 48. This tragedy occurred during the filming of the forthcoming Western at Bonanza Creek Ranch, south of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Hutchins’ fatal shooting followed previous gun-related deaths and injuries on movie sets.

Please click below for First Option's reminder about how weapons are regulated and how they should be employed on productions.

Rust Weapons AccidentLast Thursday, after being told the Western-style revolver was “cold” – safe to fire – Rust actor and producer Alec Baldwin shot in the direction of his camera crew, killing director of photography Halyna Hutchins, 42, and injuring director Joel Souza, 48. This tra...