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April 7, 2014
Hon. Kevin Flynn
Minister of Labour
14th Floor
400 University Avenue
Toronto, Ontario M7A 1T7

Dear Minister,
Re: Health and Safety in independent factual TV production
We are writing to ask for your assistance to ensure the health and safety of Ontario workers in
independent factual TV production. We are encouraged by your Ministrys recent Health and
Safety Prevention Strategy. Representatives of the Canadian Media Guild recently met with staff
from your office and we believe that more can be done to protect vulnerable workers in the
provinces growing factual/reality television industry.
Factual/reality television, also known as unscripted TV, is a relative newcomer to the independent
production sector in Ontario but it has been growing fast over the last decade as a popular genre
that helps broadcasters meet regulatory requirements for airing Canadian content. We estimate that
there is now as much factual TV being produced in Ontario as scripted TV. However, unlike in
scripted productions, workers in factual TV productions are almost never covered by union
agreements and the concerns of non-union workers are currently not represented at the Section 21
working group for film and TV production.
The Canadian Media Guild began meeting with factual TV workers a year ago, soon after Canadian
reality TV director John Driftmier was killed on location in Kenya shooting an episode of Dangerous
Flights for Discovery Network. We launched an online survey in May 2013 and received responses
from 328 workers by the end of July. The survey results echoed what we heard in meetings: these
skilled and committed people toil in difficult and even unsafe conditions with no voice to make
improvements.
Here is a comment left by one of the survey respondents: Safety must be improved. I have risked
my life so many times it is crazy. Shooting without a seatbelt is standard procedure. Shooting from a
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helicopter without proper safety gear happens all the time. People will get killed. Its already
happening.
Of the respondents, 87% work in Ontario. Two-thirds said they were freelancers; 31% of all
respondents reported that they have worked in unsafe conditions and 37% reported witnessing
conditions that were unsafe for others. Of those who work on location, including videographers and
directors, 54% said they have worked in situations that were unsafe while 59% have witnessed
situations that are unsafe for others. Nearly 60% reported working at least 45 hours per week, with a
quarter saying they work more than 60 hours per week.
Over the course of a year, a freelance factual TV worker could find herself working in a makeshift
kitchen (for a cooking competition show), on a construction site (for a home renovation show) and
on an airport runway, all without any training specific to those types of hazardous workplaces.
Since February of this year, the Canadian Media Guild has been collecting stories from workers, in
confidence, about the risks being taken during factual TV production and accidents that have
resulted. The biggest risks appear to be: lack of awareness of safe practices, lack of planning and
communication about how to deal with safety risks and avoid hazards, long and continuous days of
work with inadequate rest periods, the need to drive including inter-urban trips after long hours,
lack of safety equipment (especially for heights and shooting from moving vehicles), and lack of true
protection against reprisals for those who speak up about safety concerns. These risks are magnified
on adventure productions such as those involving small aircraft, boats and bodies of water,
animals and extreme temperatures.
Of the nearly one-third of survey respondents who had dared to speak up about working conditions
to the people in charge, 37% have felt targeted for expressing their concerns. While the letter of the
law says that workers will be protected from reprisals for refusing or reporting unsafe work, workers
in the factual TV industry cant count on this protection in practice if they cant find another gig
after speaking out.
The workers we have talked to understand they have a role to play in ensuring their own safety and
that of others. They would welcome the opportunity to play this role to the fullest in their factual
TV work but are not in the position to do it alone. They need the support of all of the partners in
television production in Ontario: the producers that engage them; the broadcasters who commission
the programming; and the government that provides tax credits and enforces worker safety.
We believe the ministry can help in the following ways:
Education and awareness about the importance of health and safety within the factual TV
production community.
Initiatives to ensure production companies comply with the Occupational Health and Safety
Act.
Representation of non-union TV production workers on sector committees and
consultations.
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Co-ordination with other ministries to link health and safety of the workers to existing and
new programs that support television production in Ontario.
We would be pleased to meet with you to discuss the issue further.

Sincerely,


Carmel Smyth
National President
Canadian Media Guild, 310 Front St. West, Suite 810, Toronto, ON M5V 3B5
416-591-5333, ext. 233

Martin OHanlon
Director
CWA/SCA Canada

Deena Ladd
Co-ordinator
Workers Action Centre

Paul Day
&
Paul Winestock
Co-Presidents
Canadian Cinema Editors (C.C.E.)

cc.
George Gritziotis, Chief Prevention Officer, Ontario Ministry of Labour
Michael Hennessey, CEO, Canadian Association of Media Producers
Jayson Mosek, Labour co-chair, Ontario Film and Television Section 21 Advisory Committee
Linda Vanucci, Toronto Workers Health and Safety Legal Clinic