British Safety Council London 2012 film, Speak Up, Stay Safe, in contention for International Media Festival for Prevention Award

British Safety Council London 2012 film, Speak Up, Stay Safe, in contention for International Media Festival for Prevention Award

Speak Up, Stay Safe, a British Safety Council film produced for the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics as part of induction programme for volunteers, has been shortlisted for the International Media Festival for Prevention. In our film, commissioned by the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, a young volunteer learns how to identify and speak up about risks she sees while working as a Games Maker during London 2012.

The Festival is part of the XX World Congress on Safety and Health at Work taking place in Frankfurt on 24-27 August 2014. This award is given to film makers who have successfully used the moving image as a vehicle for risk communication to ensure workers stay safe and well. Speak Up, Stay Safe, will be screened on the first day of the World Congress on Monday 25 August.

There has never been a better time, using a range of media, to get across the British Safety Council vision that in this globalised economy, no-one should be injured or made ill by work. The ILO estimatation that globally 2.2 million people die each year from work related disease and injury shows how far we are from this vision.

Matthew Holder, head of campaigns at the British Safety Council, who led the production of the film, observed: “I wanted the video to be firmly grounded in the experience of a typical Games Maker and the production company New Moon did a great job in getting the message across in a visually enticing way. Workers are far more likely to be exposed to injury in the first few weeks and months of a new job than at any other time. Helping volunteers who have never been part of an event like the Olympics to understand how they could play their part in keeping athletes, spectators and their work colleagues safe was crucial.”

Our film was one of many initiatives we supported to help ensure London 2012 was the safest Olympic Games on record. Speak Up, Stay Safe is in contention for one of the six awards which will be announced on Monday 25 August 2014 – it is available to watch here.