MANILA, PHILIPPINES, JULY 19, 2021 — As a continuation of its efforts to train and upskill industry-specific safety and health officers, the Safe Filming Program of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), in partnership with the Department of Labor and Employment-Occupational Safety and Health Center (DOLE-OSHC), is accepting participants for its third batch of the Safety and Health Officers Training Seminar (SHOTS). 

In line with DOLE Department Order No. 198, the SHOTS is a free online 40-hour Basic Occupational Safety and Health (BOSH) Training for the Audiovisual Industry to establish and familiarize film and audiovisual industry stakeholders with the importance of OSH for the conduct of audiovisual activities. 

Upon completion of the training, participants will receive a Safety Officer 2 (SO2) Certification from DOLE-OSHC and will be appointed as Safety Officers by their respective production companies.

The online training seminar will be held from July 26 to 30 via Zoom, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, to be facilitated by actor Jeffrey Santos, an SO2, ASHI, ITLS, EMT-B, and EMR instructor, safety and event security professional and trainer Rico Santiago, safety and resilience professional and OSH Accredited for Mass Media Martin Aguda, Jr., and OSH Accredited Consultant Frumencio “Ming” Tan.

The SHOTS will cover topics on the Roles of Safety Officers in Audiovisual Activities, Health Hazards, Safety Hazards in the Workplace, Risk Assessment, Workplace Emergency Preparedness, Accident Investigation, Employees Compensation, and COVID-19 and the Workplace.

“As a result of the success of the first two batches of SHOTS, we are slowly building a culture of safety for our film and audiovisual industry workers. Our priority is to empower our workers and equip them with such invaluable knowledge to change how we perceive and implement occupational safety and health in the Philippine film and audiovisual industry. As we ease our way to the new normal, we hope to see these lessons in practice to further ingrain the culture of safety,” said FDCP Chairperson and CEO Liza Diño.

The pre-registration for the 3rd SHOTS is until July 21 at 6 p.m. Those interested in joining the AV industry-specific training are required to have a primary and alternative device such as a desktop or laptop. Participants should use a built-in or external webcam and microphone for the whole duration of the training and must have a stable internet connection with a download and upload speed of at least 3 Mbps.

The forty-five (45) graduates from the first batch of SHOTS, specifically intended for the audiovisual industry, had a worthy training experience, strongly urging all concerns to give priority to the health and safety of AV workers in their workplaces. Meanwhile, the forty (40) graduates of the second batch of SHOTS have shared what they appreciated in the latest training seminar held in May and among these are: 

1. “Not only did I learn about safety protocols and procedures, I also learned about the legal side of things.”

2. “I like and love the whole 5 days of training. I enjoyed listening to all our speakers and the interaction with all the participants.”

3. “I really liked the involvement of resource persons from FDCP and OSHC because they painted a very clear picture of safety not only for this pandemic but for the audiovisual sector. It’s about time that our sector also enforced the same precaution as other sectors of the country.” 

4. “The relevant examples that the speakers shared. The level of expertise of the speakers is beyond question.”

Interested participants may register at https://tinyurl.com/SHOTSBatch3. For inquiries and other concerns, you may contact the Safe Filming Program through Ms. Claire Mendoza at (+63) 917 7233 111 or [email protected].