Get help now Watch Apply
SearchApply or register interestContactGet help now

Learning path · Getting in

Your first day on set

Everything a new runner or trainee needs before a first UK shoot: who's who, how the day runs, radio and slate calls, call sheets, safety, wellbeing, and finding and keeping freelance work.

Free films in teaching order, for one craft. Watch, tick them off and test yourself. It's practice that prepares you for an Academy course. This one prepares you for Day One: ready for set.

19 lessons · About 3 hours · New to set · Not started

Lesson 1

Introduction to Health and Safety in Film and Television

XpoNorth Digital · 17:44 · original on YouTube

You will learn: Know the basics of UK health and safety law and risk assessment for film and TV.

Note: UK practice; check current HSE guidance.

Safety first

Health, safety and speaking up

Everyone on a unit has a duty to work safely and to speak up. The safety adviser and the medic help the producer meet the legal duty. Here's what every new starter needs to know before day one.

The hazards

  1. The briefingListen to every safety briefing. It tells you the hazards, where to stand and who's in charge. Missed it? Say so.
  2. Trips, slips and cablesThe commonest accidents. Watch your feet, keep walkways clear, ramp cables.
  3. Lifting and carryingKit is heavy. Lift with your legs, ask for help, use trolleys.
  4. Height and overheadNever work at height without training. Never stand under a load being lifted.
  5. Hours and fatigueLong days lead to mistakes and car crashes. Know the 48-hour average and your rest breaks, and say if you're too tired to drive.
  6. Mental health and bullyingLong hours, pressure and bad behaviour hurt people. You can report bullying and harassment, and get free support any time.
  7. Accidents and near missesReport every accident and near miss to your HoD and the medic. It goes in the accident book.

Who is responsible

  • The producer, as employer, is responsible in law.
  • The health and safety adviser advises and checks.
  • The unit medic gives first aid and keeps records.
  • Everyone has a duty to work safely and to speak up.

As a trainee, never

  • Never ignore a hazard because someone senior walked past it.
  • Never work at height or with machinery you haven't been trained on.
  • Never keep an accident or near miss to yourself.

Anyone can say stop. If something feels wrong, say so to your head of department or the 1st AD.

Where this comes from

Checked 13 November 2026. This is awareness, not a safety qualification: follow your production's risk assessment and your head of department.

Check yourself

4 situations. Get them all right.

Pass the safety check before the rest of the path. One wrong safety answer means try again. It's practice, and your answers stay on this device.

Question 1: You see a stand without a sandbag in a busy walkway. It's not your department.

Question 2: You trip on a cable and hurt your wrist. It's probably fine.

Question 3: It's day 11 in a row of 13-hour days. You're nodding off at the wheel on the drive home.

Question 4: A HoD keeps making comments about your faith in front of the crew.

By the end you will be able to

  • Know the safety basics on a UK set, where the medic and muster point are, and how to stop work or report a near miss
  • Read a UK call sheet and arrive in the right place with the right kit
  • Use walkie and set calls correctly and know the order of a shooting day
  • Set yourself up as a UK freelancer with a CV, showreel and tax basics, and check whether you are eligible for ScreenSkills Trainee Finder

Test yourself

Could you do it on a set?

4 real situations, one for each thing this path teaches. It's optional practice, not pass or fail, and your answers stay on this device.

Who can stop work on a set if something looks unsafe?

Your call sheet says unit call 07:00, your call 06:30, location a car park marked 'unit base'. When and where do you go?

In what order do you hear the calls on a take?

As a UK freelancer, what must you do about tax?

Next: do it for real

This path prepares you for Day One: ready for set.

Six lessons, from never having been on a set to knowing where to stand, what the calls mean, how to read a call sheet and how to keep yourself and others safe.

It's free and open in the pilot. Finish it to book a competency check, then a practical on our unit.

Start Day OneBook a competency check

How learning with FIF works

Learning path. Free films in teaching order, for one craft. Watch, tick them off and test yourself. It's practice that prepares you for an Academy course.

  1. Learn onlineFree films, paths and Academy coursesYou are here
  2. Competency checkA short check with us, online or in person
  3. In-person practicalOn our unit at Pinewood or 3 Mills
  4. FIF CertificateFrom the practical only

The FIF Certificate comes only from the practical. How it works · Book a competency check

More on this

14 items

Go further

Beyond YouTube, labelled honestly. Free first. Paid options are labelled.

For learners and trainers

Train with us on a working unit

Every lesson is a free video by its original maker, played from YouTube with privacy-enhanced settings. Found a broken video? Email [email protected].