COVID Risk Assessment

For Wedding Photography

Activity/Process/Operation

Taking photographs of people on locations during COVID-19 pandemic, in light of increased risk of virus infection.

Identify the hazards (anything that can cause harm)

Transmission of the virus in:
1. Person to person contact,
2. Person to object/material contact.

Who might be harmed and how?

1. Member of the public or the client could be at risk of contracting COVID-19, putting them at serious risk of illness.
2. Photographer could be at risk of contracting COVID-19, being exposed in an environment out of his control.

Estimated risk level now - medium.

What measures are in place to reduce the risk?

1. Photographer has referred closely to government guidance including but not exhaustively:

• Closing certain businesses and venues in England,

• Working safely during coronavirus (COVID-19),

• Working safely during coronavirus (COVID-19) - Shops and branches,

• Managing risks and risk assessment at work.

2. Photographer to maintain a high level of personal hygiene:

• Photographer to wash hands frequently following government guidelines, including arrival and departure.

• Hand sanitizer used where washing hands are not possible,

• Maintaining a safe distance, 2 metres wherever practical, and a minimum of 1 metre as per government guidance

• Any posing of groups of people to adhere to current government guidelines around social distancing and ‘bubbles’. - it is our clients’ responsibility to advise on who is able to take part in group photos and who is bubbled with who.

• Use of a face mask when required to do so in line with government guidance and/or site/venue requirements

• Photographer will stop work, alert site/venue staff, leave the site/venue and self-isolate immediately if any symptoms appear

• Adhere to the site health & safety policy

• No handshaking,

• Being alert of possible hygiene issues.

3. Photographer to daily clean of areas that are receiving high traffic usage or are frequent contact surfaces:

• Personal belongings (such as mobile phone, car keys, etc),

• Assets (such as a car and it's interior),

• Business equipment (such as a camera body, light stands, etc).

4. Photographer to avoid:

• Wearing jewelry, watch, etc,

• Handling cash (use contactless payment where possible).

5. Photographer and Client to maintain social distancing according to government guidance.

6. Client to maintain personal responsibility for their own hygiene practices inline with government "stay alert" guidance:

• Washing hands when arriving on location and when leaving,

• Washing hands as frequently as needed and using hand sanitizer if needed.

• Avoiding touching their faces.

• Avoiding cross contamination with the photographer (by touching the photographer's equipment, such as cameras, light stands, bags, etc).

• Advise the photographer on who is able to take part in group photos and who is bubbled with who.

Estimated risk level now - low.

What further action is needed to reduce the risk? (State actions.)

Please note that although the photographer has put safeguards in place to minimize the risk of a client contracting COVID-19, it is not possible to eradicate the risk completely. Therefor the client takes responsibility for their own personal health and safety and must make a personal risk assessment in order to identify whether they deem the residual risk too high.

In this risk assessment the client should take into account their own individual vulnerabilities, including whether they're within one of the "at risk" categories as identified in government guidance.  

Date of Assessment: 08/10/2020