How many times have you hired a freelance cameraman for a job and said “mate, can you throw in your drone, we’re gonna need a quick opening shot”?
Sounds an innocent enough request and with today’s budgets, who doesn’t want to save money?
Problem is, that simple request could open you up to a legal minefield.
If you haven’t already, you should take a look at the graphic shot of a drone slamming into a runner a few years back at the Perth Marathon.
CASA fined the drone pilot, but, who do you think the lawyers would have gone after – the one-man-band drone operator or the production company and the producer?
Lawyers always go where they think the money is when seeking damages, and in many cases, the drone operator may have no insurance.
Just by hiring a freelance cameraman, who has a Remote Pilot Licence, doesn’t get the job done when it comes to protecting your production company from financial damages.
The liabilities would probably be worse still, if the pilot doesn’t have any drone qualifications at all, and many cameramen, who offer to provide small drones as part of their kit or for a few extra dollars, aren’t licensed.
To be eligible to get drone insurance, you have to have a CASA qualification called a ReOC.
If a cameraman, who doesn't hold a ReOC, or is not officially working under a licensed ReOC, tells you they’ve got insurance, they probably mean they’ve got the standard fire and theft insurance everyone has on their homes, or maybe, a business public liability policy.
If someone steals their drone, they’re covered, but if it causes damage to property or injury to people while they're operating it, it’s almost certain their business public liability insurance will not cover any commercial drone operations.
What happens to a producer using a drone operator, who doesn’t have proper insurance, whether the production company is aware of the situation or not?
Because you’re in charge of all the production activities and directing the drone operator to get the shots you need, you’re likely to be the one who’s going to be exposed to any legal actions that may arise if an incident occurs.
Even if you’re cleared in the end, defending the legal battles could easily send you broke.
The second point is that you have to consider every aerial filming assignment is a risk.
No matter how cute and innocent that little drone may look sitting on the ground, it’s potentially fraught with danger and liability.
As the producer and employer, you have an obligation to create and provide a safe workplace environment.
Every independent contractor is operating under your direction during a production, and for obvious safety reasons, you wouldn’t stage a stunt or do a car chase without all the i’s dotted and the t’s crossed, right?
No matter how short or simple a flight may appear, every ReOC is required by CASA to accurately assess the risks for every assignment they undertake in a suite of Risk Assessment documents.
Without those documents – there’s potentially no insurance payout and great deal of legal exposure.
In general terms, formal risk assessments have the effect of moving the responsibility for risk from the producer to the drone company.
The Producer can stand up and say “from the production company's perspective all risk factors were properly considered and appropriate mitigation put in place to ensure the safest possible operating conditions”.
Some degree of risk will always exist when using drones; nobody expects risk to be entirely eliminated, but they do expect it to be fully assessed and considered before a flight is undertaken.
It’s now becoming commonplace for production companies, corporations and government authorities to demand copies of the risk assessments before any aerial filming can take place.
Lots of cowboy operators will still take a chance on jobs without any risk documents, because preparing these documents involves hours of work.
By failing to tell you they’re operating this way and that risk documents are needed for your assignment, they’re leaving your production company exposed to potential damages.
All it takes is one job when the drone operator tries for a shot beyond their ability, miscalculates, loses control and the machine crashes into a group of onlookers, with its blades still spinning.
These are the sorts of location issues that producers don’t plan for and don’t want to have to worry out.
Like other commercial drone operators working in film and video, our company, Drone Nation, is a licensed ReOC.
The company is fully insured for all film and video operations within Australia, which is an expensive annual outlay.
Risk documents are prepared for every assignment we undertake, to meet CASA and insurance obligations, and ensure our operational responsibilities leave your production company protected.
We’ve developed an excellent relationship with CASA, having obtained approvals to operate within 3nm of both Melbourne and Moorabbin airports on several occasions.
When it comes to operating drones on your film or video productions, the best policy for any producer is to play it safe.
Make sure the drone operator you're using provides you will a full Risk Assessment, Job Safety Assessment and Flight Authorisation from the Chief Pilot of their ReOC before they undertake any flight on behalf of your company.
You should also insist on a Certificate of Currency for their insurance specifically covering the drone they'll be using.
If the cameraman is a licensed Remote Pilot claiming to work under an insured ReOC, you should ask the ReOC to confirm by email that the pilot is officially on their books and is covered by their insurance.
Make sure the Certificate of Currency specifies hull coverage for the drone and public liability of at least $10-million, specifically stating that it covers drones or RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aerial System), which is the official name used by authorities.
A general public risk liability policy will very rarely cover drones; in fact, most specifically exclude drone operation from their coverage.
The reason I suggest you look for the hull coverage is that you don’t want an uninsured drone operator coming after you to replace their crashed drone because they say you were directing them when their aircraft crashed.
Some people will always have a go!
If you’d like to talk about your upcoming needs or you’d like to see copies of risk assessment documents, so you know what you should be receiving, give me a call. I’ll be happy to share our documents with you.
Brad Smart
Drone Nation www.drone-nation.com.au
Mob: 0418 311011