Safety in Hair and Makeup Trailers During Winter Months
All fall descends upon us, many northeast production teams are struggling with how to transition from a summer production into a winter production. Although the weather is changing, the need for location shoots with hair and makeup trailers is not. Therefore, it’s really important that production crews remember to focus on the health and safety of those using trailers. Let’s talk about safety in hair and makeup trailers during winter months
In winter, production crews must ensure proper air quality in hair and makeup trailers. In a recent study of the Vancouver film industry, in fact, twelve in fourteen trailers did not get proper circulation. NYC crews should heed this study as a warning to maintain air quality for the health and safety of all.
The specific chemicals used in hair and makeup trailers make them particularly vulnerable to poor air quality woes. Many of the solids and sprays used in hair and makeup trailers release VOCs, or volatile organic compounds. Unfortunately, without proper ventilation, VOCs can cause irritation to the nose, eyes, and throat. They can cause nausea, headaches, and loss of coordination and potentially lead to long-term damage to the nervous system and kidneys.
Ensure proper measures protect against poor ventilation and VOCs. Here are winter safety tips for hair and makeup trailers.
1) The first crewmembers to arrive in the morning should open the trailers and ventilate them freely for at least one hour before use. When possible, hair and makeup call times should be one hour later than the first crew member arriving in order to allow for this. Airing out trailers at the end of the day will also help. This helps to bring down the VOC levels that build up during off hours.
2) Regularly maintain the air conditioning and ventilation systems in the trailer, especially during the winter months. Change filters frequently.
3) Provide health and safety information to everyone working in the trailer, including both crew and cast members. Make sure that everyone understands the ventilation systems. You must conduct these Health and Safety orientations.
4) Encourage hair and makeup professionals to minimize the use of temporary hair color sprays as much as possible.. Such products are particularly irritating to the respiratory system.
5) Safely capping all products that are not in use will help to decrease the amount of VOCs present in the air.
6) If any obstructions are placed in front of the air conditioning or ventilation systems, they should be removed. All crew members should be empowered to keep track of all ventilation systems and to move anything that may cause a problem.