Gladiator sequel crew members injured in stunt sequence on set
Several crew members filming the Gladiator sequel in Morocco have been injured in a stunt accident on set.
The film’s production company Paramount Pictures said the injuries were non life-threatening and happened while shooting a planned stunt sequence.
The crew members were “all in stable condition and continue to receive treatment”, the statement said.
Earlier this week, the Sun reported there had been an explosion and six people went to hospital.
“It was terrifying – a huge ball of fire flew up and caught several crew members in its path. In years of filming I’ve never seen an accident so scary,” a source told the newspaper.
“Everyone involved, from the lowliest runners to the star names, has been shaken up by this,” they added.
In a statement, a Paramount Pictures spokesperson said: “The safety and full medical services teams on-site were able to act quickly so that those who were impacted immediately received necessary care.”
They said it has “strict health and safety procedures in place on all our productions” and would take “all necessary precautions as we resume production”.
Read more on the BBC website.
The ‘Zoom’bie Effect
In this month’s legal column from Eversheds Sutherland, Catherine Henney, speaks to Mental Health Strategist and Consultant, Amy McKeown, about the impact of the pandemic on workers’ mental health and ISO45003, the first international standard on managing psychological health and safety at work.
The impact of increased screen time on child and adolescent mental health has been studied and written about for some time now. However, recent years have seen a dramatic increase in adult screen time, with the pandemic forcing millions of workers into working from home and spending many more hours a day on video meetings and calls than they otherwise would have in their ‘normal’ working day. It’s no wonder that these employees are also reporting (and showing) more signs of fatigue, stress and anxiety than ever before.
Working from home – with the lack of distinction between the home and the work-place – has led to a culture of working hours drifting longer across the day; people feel that they never switching off, and taking fewer breaks from the screen. A day of back-to-back Zoom or Teams calls can leave us feeling mentally exhausted and – personally speaking – with a head full of fuzz and sore, dry eyes. It’s something I like to call the “Zoombie” effect, and it appears to be an increasingly common psychological side effect of increased home-working, and one that employers as well as employees as struggling to grapple with.
Read the full column on the SHP website.
Impact Report shows 23% demand in services
The Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity has published its 2022 Impact Report which details the positive impact its work has on the construction community.
The charity delivered an unprecedented £3,322,739 of charitable services and for every £1 of charitable spend the charity created a Social Value of £9.12.
Last year the charity helped more people than ever before with 3421 families reaching out for support, a 23% increase on the previous year. 76% of requests for support came from tradespeople seeking help with a variety of emotional, physical and financial wellbeing support.
The charity’s caseworkers leveraged a staggering £1.77m of additional funding to support 1976 complex cases where multiple interventions were required to resolve issues such as homelessness, family breakdowns and domestic abuse.
In response to the issues faced in what can be a challenging environment, the charity invested 22% of its grant expenditure in delivering 1753 face to face and virtual counselling sessions. This service has meant that our construction workforce has had fast access to a variety of counselling services to address issues such as bereavement, relationship breakdowns and anger management.
To learn more about the report, visit the HSM website.
Feeling the heat? – Tips on heat stress
Dr Karen McDonnell, Occupational Health and Safety Policy Adviser at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), offers some tips for avoiding heat stress at work.
Exposure to excessive heat while working, whether indoors or outdoors, can be hazardous to health.
So, how can employers and employees reduce the risks?
Heat stress happens when the body’s way of controlling its internal temperature starts to fail. Symptoms can include an inability to concentrate, muscle cramps, heat rash and severe thirst. It can lead to heat exhaustion and heat stroke, which is potentially fatal.
In addition, exposure to excessive heat can result in lethargy, poor decision-making, sweaty palms, fogged-up safety glasses and dizziness – all of which can increase the risk of injuries.
According to the International Labour Organization 2019 report Working on a warmer planet: The impact of heat stress on labour productivity and decent work, the rise in global temperatures caused by climate change will make heat stress more common. By 2030, it’s estimated that 2.2 per cent of total working hours worldwide will be lost to high temperatures – a productivity loss equivalent to 80 million full-time jobs and an estimated cost of US $2,400 billion.
Check out the advice on the SHP website.
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