Agree a wellbeing plan

A key part of wellbeing planning is holding a wellbeing meeting with your senior production and creative team.

This is the moment to bring senior leaders together to agree support at the very start of pre-production, in the same way you would hold a health and safety, sustainability or creative meeting.

It’s your chance to set the tone, by normalising conversations around mental health and wellbeing.

In these discussions, the senior team should understand how their decision-making can impact wellbeing. They should also know what support is available to them and who they can talk to if they need to escalate any issues.

Guide:
Look at what to cover in the meeting in our online guide:
How to run a senior team wellbeing meeting

A production’s values set the tone for behaviour and communicates the message that mental health and wellbeing is everyone’s responsibility.  

These could be simple bullet points or a full code of conduct, depending on what your company already has in place and what feels most relevant on each production.

There are some great examples in the industry to adopt or adapt:

• Aardman – Dignity at Work: This document outlines values and expected behaviours that support ambitions such as integrity, collaboration – and even humour!
• BFI/BAFTA inclusion principles: These nine online simple statements aim to tackle and prevent bullying, harassment and racism in the industry.

Whatever you create, think about how to make sure everyone is aware of your values throughout the whole production process.

A Mental Health Risk Assessment will sit at the heart of your wellbeing plan and will help meet legal requirements on managing stress.

Companies are obliged to protect the health and safety of their employees – including taking steps to prevent undue stress at work.

Start your assessment early so you have time to review the project and identify risk areas. You can then put the right support provisions and preventative measures in place.

For example, does the schedule involve difficult working conditions or will the teams be working with sensitive content?

As you add to your assessment, consider the different experiences of those working on your production, and who will be responsible for supporting them.

Guide and templates:
Learn about risk assessment requirements, and download an editable template,  in our online guide:
Prepare a Mental Health Risk Assessment

Ensure your budget is resourced sufficiently for mental health and wellbeing needs. 

Ideally, adequate financial provision for mental health and wellbeing requirements will have been discussed and agreed with your commissioner/financier at greenlight.

If not, have this conversation with them as soon as possible.

Your budget could fund, for example, the provision of reasonable adjustments reasonable adjustments - employers are legally obliged to make reasonable changes in the workplace to enable disabled people, including those with mental health conditions, to carry out their work. Close .

If budget allows, you may want to bring in specific mental health expertise, particularly when risks and challenges are identified.

They can advise senior team leaders and address crew members. Support can include:

Mental Health First Aiders Mental Health First Aiders - someone who has completed a training course to identify, understand and support someone who may be experiencing a mental health issue Close : You could train some of your team as mental health first aiders – but they’re only trained to listen and signpost, not to intervene. Some crew may already have this training, so do check.

Wellbeing facilitator Wellbeing facilitator - someone who works as part of a production; they advise producers and heads of department on how to prevent mental ill health and inappropriate behaviour and can help intervene early when issues arise. They can also be called wellbeing co-ordinator or wellbeing producer. Close : Your senior team could benefit from such an expert who would have mental health and wellbeing responsibilities on set.

Therapist Therapist - a loose term to denote someone who practices a form of therapy, whether this be CBT, psychotherapy, or counselling. The term itself does not imply specific qualifications or competence, and one should look at regulatory and membership bodies such as the BABCP to ensure you have someone qualified and competent Close or psychologist psychologist - someone who has completed an undergraduate degree in psychology and has studied the science of the mind and behaviour. The title itself does not mean that they are either accredited (for example, through the British Psychological Society) or that they can practice as a therapist. Clinical Psychologists have undergone further postgraduate training and are qualified to conduct specific therapy for a range of mental health problems Close : These roles can help advise team leads on how to manage specific issues that arise, both on and off set.

Make sure your team are aware of additional mental health and wellbeing programmes on offer and how to access them.

This may be provided through the broadcaster, or the production company – and might include:

• An employee assistance programme An employee assistance programme - an employee benefit that provides your team with support and practical advice on issues that might be impacting their wellbeing and performance. It generally includes face-to-face, telephone or online counselling and expert support on both personal and work-related issues Close : Tell crew what assistance is available, who is eligible (such as hair and make-up, and craft – not just editorial) and when (before, during or after production).
• An individual assistance programme An individual assistance programme - a programme that can be made available to freelancers and contractors, which can include face-to-face, telephone or online counselling and expert support Close : Companies can also choose to support freelancers with short term support.
• Therapy for individuals: This can be offered, depending on the challenges of a production – such as those with sensitive content. Some broadcasters are prepared to put this in place, so it’s worth checking.

You may want to review your wellbeing plan against specific industry standards.

These policies include:

• Bectu welfare policy principles: Covers a range of mental health and wellbeing policy areas.
• Coalition for Change Freelancers’ Charter: Covers recruitment, training and working hours as well as tackling bullying and harassment.

Consider what else you need to roll out your plan

The above actions make up the essential tasks for pre-production planning.

However, there are further mini guides to follow for a holistic approach to mental health and wellbeing support:

• Mini guide: Prepare a wellbeing pack for individuals
• Mini guide: Be clear on bullying, racism, harassment and discrimination
• Mini guide: Recruit transparently and fairly

Look ahead to how you might build on, and roll out, your plan’s documents and processes:

• View our Production mini guides
• View our Post-production mini guides

In this video, April explains how her company used the Toolkit over two productions, by rolling out low-cost actions.

These actions helped crew members feel ‘seen and heard’ on set, and they were able to take their learnings on to other productions.

They included:

• Holding a mental health briefing for all crew and staff.
• Adding toolkit links and the Film and TV Charity Support Line details to the call sheet.
• Carrying out check-ins with crew members at the end of the shoot, and during post-production editing.

Play video

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• Agree a wellbeing plan

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