Hospitals

What Can Go Wrong?

• Obstruction of hospital staff and routes
• Contraction of an infection or contamination by biological/chemical materials
• Introduction or spread of infection
• Illness due to overexposure to ionising radiation
• Accidental needle stick injury
• Psychological trauma due to storyline or environment
• Broadcast kit could interfere with medical equipment (eg MRI Scanners).
• Medical equipment might interfere with our technical or broadcasting equipment.

Legal/BBC Requirements

• There are no specific legal requirements to draw to your attention.

Control Measures

General Controls

• Ask medical staff ask about rules or local procedures and communicate to all crew.
• Familiarise yourself with the layout (consider fire exits, trolleys, beds, etc).
• Remember that there are often fast moving staff in a hospital, particularly when emergency situations arise.
• Risk assess your activity to ensure that it won’t compromise the safety of staff, patients, or crew.
• Ensure that staff/ crew who are pregnant/ breast feeding have appropriately heightened precautions in clinical/ specialist areas. 
• Obtain authorisation before connecting /plugging in any technical equipment.
• Ensure you don’t unplug any hospital equipment and carry out a visual check of any power sockets before using.
• Make sure that all cables are managed effectively and monitored.
• Obtain authorisation before using any radio cameras and mobile phones.
• Ensure you don’t enter any sensitive areas without authorisation & supervision.
• Ensure all instructions provided by the hospital or lab regarding hygiene, clothing requirements, hand gel, etc are followed. Wash hands when entering and leaving clinical areas.
• Pay particular attention to make sure that staff wear any appropriate radiation shielding uniform as advised by the medical team to protect from ionising radiation
• Don’t enter the premises if feeling unwell or within 72 hours of sickness or diarrhoea.
• Don’t sit on hospital beds unless given permission by hospital staff.
• Avoid touching any chemicals or biological cultures.
• Take further advice if working in areas with poor medical infrastructure
• Be aware of potential risks from hospital equipment such as X-Ray, MRI Scanners, lasers & take advice from specialists in the area
• If you get a needle stick injury tell clinical staff and follow their guidance. If this is not available quickly wash area and clean wound with antiseptic. Contact BBC Occupational Health and report accident to your line manager.
• Discuss the details of the story before deploying staff to medical facilities
• Monitor the production team for emotional trauma during and after the recording period and inform them about the BBC support systems. Such as the BBC Employee Assistance Programme and the Trauma Support Network. BBC Wellbeing pages linked below.