Applications open for round three of PGGB’s High Level Covid Supervisor Training

Applications are open for round three of The Production Guild of Great Britain’s (PGGB) High Level Covid Supervisor Training, which takes place online on 6 March and 13 March.

Delivered by the PGGB and fuelled by £100k British Film Commission (BFC) investment, the two-day training programme provides a thorough overview of the impact of Covid measures on each department involved in production and how the Covid Supervisor role brings these elements together. Topics covered include COVID-19 disease mitigation and infection prevention control, screening, testing, behaviour change, medical pathways and scene-by-scene risk assessments. Upon successful completion, participants become ‘High Level Accredited Covid Supervisors’, a status certified by the PGGB and BFC, which will be accredited by The CPD Standards Office.

PGGB’s director of training, Helen Curston, said: “Since launching the course, we’ve seen increasing numbers of productions contacting PGGB, actively seeking to contact High Level Accredited Covid Supervisors who have undergone this training.  Productions need their Covid Supervisors to have more than a general awareness of Covid safety principles, they need them to possess in depth understanding of how to work with other departments to keep shoots safe and on schedule under ever-changing circumstances. By digging down into medical understanding of the virus and applying that knowledge to differing scenarios, participants come away fully versed in how to carry out this pivotal role in practice.”

Upon successful completion of eight modules and a reflective assignment, participants gain exclusive access to the PGGB’s Virtual Learning Environment, an online learning platform that is regularly updated with CPD materials, additional recordings, updates and resources as guidance adapts.

PGGB CEO Professor, Lyndsay Duthie, said: “What we’re building is essentially a specialist group of UK Covid Supervisors with comprehensive insight into complexities of COVID-19 safety in practice, relating to different types of shoots. This is supported through our Virtual Learning Environment to keep pace with the situation and share best practice as we move through and beyond the pandemic.”

Modules cover:

• A comprehensive guide to applying the BFC’s ‘Working Safely During COVID-19 in Film and HETV Drama Production’
• Core production management skills regarding the impact of COVID-19 on budgeting and scheduling for UK and US productions
• Best practice and knowledge of coordinating infection control and up to date insights into COVID-19 from leading medical experts
• Health and safety practices, legislation, risk assessments and due diligence
• Impacts and strategies for production insurance
• Effective strategies for leadership and supporting mental health
• The Covid Supervisor toolbox

The medical module is delivered by a team of expert medical specialists handpicked by Cavendish Health, a specialist consultancy managing the safe return to filming for high-profile productions from the UK’s major production companies and studios. They include: Professor of Intensive Care Medicine Hugh Montgomery, who leads a world-class research group at University College London and chairs the National Emergency Coronavirus Critical Care Committee; Dr Trupti Patel, Consultant in Infectious Diseases, Microbiology and Virology; Professor Anthony Kessel, Currently Clinical Director at NHS England & Improvement, who spent the previous decade as Director of Public Health at Public Health England and National Director of Public Health Strategy at the Health Protection Agency, where he worked at the centre of responses to Ebola and Swine Flu outbreaks; and Dr Michael Patterson, Consultant in Critical and Acute Care at UCL Hospitals, and Chief Medical officer of the FA.

The next round of PGGB/BFC High Level Covid Supervisor Training will run online on 6^th & 13^th March 2021 + review session.

Apply now via the PGGB website. Deadline: 5pm, 4^th March 2021.
£400 + booking fee + VAT (bursaries available)