Production Safety Advisor

Chapman University Careers • Irvine, CA

2d

About The Position

Under the general supervision of the Production Operations & Safety Manager, the Production Safety Advisor oversees safety compliance and risk assessment for assigned Dodge College student productions. The Advisor works with student productions to identify hazards, evaluate safety plans and documentation, determine appropriate safety measures, authorize production activities, conduct set visits and safety audits, and support compliance with university policies, applicable regulations, and established industry safety practices.

The position is a day-to-day production safety resource for students and works collaboratively with faculty, staff, production personnel, and third-party vendors. The Advisor exercises independent judgment within the assigned scope, contributes to safety policy and program development, and escalates matters requiring broader institutional oversight. The Production Operations & Safety Manager retains final authority over productions and overall responsibility for the production safety program and its policies.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience.
• Motion picture, television, commercial, or comparable production experience.
• Working knowledge of production processes, organizational structure, equipment, locations, stunts and physical action, special effects, prop weapons, and other common production hazards.
• Knowledge of production safety principles and applicable occupational health and safety requirements.
• Ability to identify production hazards, assess safety concerns, and clearly communicate established safety requirements.
• Ability to conduct on-set safety visits and work effectively with production personnel in active filming environments.
• Strong written, verbal, organizational, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to manage multiple productions and priorities, work independently within established procedures, and recognize matters requiring escalation.
• Ability to use tact and diplomacy and maintain confidentiality in oral and written communication.
• Ability to work evenings and weekends and travel to local and distant production locations as required.

Responsibilities

• Review scripts, Safety and Risk Plans, locations, production proposals, and related documentation to identify hazards and required safety measures.
• Meet with student productions during pre-production, attend assigned Green Light meetings, communicate safety requirements, and track follow-up.
• Review productions involving elevated-risk or restricted activities, including stunts and physical action, prop weapons, special effects, open flame, atmospheric effects, vehicles, generators, intimacy, minors, animals, challenging locations, and other production-specific hazards.
• Review required safety documentation and qualifications of third-party safety personnel and specialty vendors, including Intimacy Specialists, as assigned.
• Guide students on established production safety procedures, risk mitigation, production paperwork, locations, equipment safety, insurance requirements, and operational safety matters.
• Coordinate with Production Management, Production Support, and relevant university and Dodge College stakeholders to support productions, address risks, and maintain consistent communication.
• Maintain production safety documentation, records, forms, and tracking systems.
• Assist with production investigations of accidents, incidents, significant events, and emergencies to support compliance with policies and applicable laws and regulations; advise productions on changes to prevent recurrence.
• Support communication and follow-up with students, faculty, Production Management, Production Support, and other university personnel on production safety matters.
• Assist with specialized safety reviews and inspections, including approved prop weapons activities, as assigned.
• Support operation and coverage of the Production Safety Hotline and related communications.
• Assist with biannual and annual comprehensive safety reports, reviewing incident-log data, identifying trends, recommending safety program development or training, and supporting compliance and recurrence prevention.
• Serve as a day-to-day resource for student production safety questions and established requirements.
• Participate in production safety orientations, workshops, demonstrations, and training activities, and help students understand the safety responsibilities of production positions.
• Maintain current knowledge of applicable production safety regulations, industry safety bulletins, SAG-AFTRA requirements, and established motion picture and television safety practices.
• Administer and track production safety training through online Learning Management Systems to support core competency and completion of assigned training modules.
• Conduct regular on-set safety visits and operational audits at local and distant filming locations.
• Assess adherence to approved Safety and Risk Plans, university policies, applicable requirements, and established production safety practices.
• Work with 1st Assistant Directors and production leadership to review safety meetings, emergency procedures, crew organization, site conditions, and implementation of required safety measures.
• Monitor higher-risk production activities and identify unsafe conditions or deviations from approved production plans.
• Document set visits, safety concerns, corrective measures, and required follow-up; conduct follow-up visits when necessary.
• Immediately pause activities presenting an imminent safety hazard and promptly escalate the matter to the Production Operations & Safety Manager.
• Perform other production safety duties as assigned by the Production Operations & Safety Manager and Director of Production and Technical Operations.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time