Most corporate photographers and editorial photographers will, sooner or later, have to shoot in a factory or on a construction site. This means you have to wear safety gear.
I’ve photographed in factories and construction sites for many years. I did two jobs today, one at an aerospace manufacturer and the other at a hospital construction site. Here are a few suggestions to photographers who will be shooting in similar situations.
Safety Boots
They may look fashionable but do not buy safety shoes. Get 6″ or 8″ safety *boots*. Safety shoes may be allowed in some factories and warehouses but they’re not permitted on construction sites.
Safety boots must have the CSA green triangle patch which confirms that the footwear has a Grade 1 protective toe and a puncture-proof sole. It helps to also have electrical shock resistance.
Don’t buy the cheapest safety boots because you think you’ll wear them only once or twice per year.
The elevators weren’t operating today at a construction site for a nine-storey building. I had to take the stairs from ground floor to rooftop and back to the ground floor – twice. This was followed by climbing the stairs in a five-storey parking garage. A lot of walking on hard concrete steps!
I also had to walk through a field of four-inch-deep mud surrounding the site to get a particular camera angle. Low-rise safety shoes would have been submerged in the mud. By the way, keep a pair of street shoes, extra socks, a large plastic bag and maybe even a change of pants in your car so you don’t have to wear dirty work boots in your car.
Having comfortable boots is very important. If you do buy safety boots, wear them for walks around the block for a couple weeks to break them in.
Hard Hats
Buy your own hard hat. They’re inexpensive. While some locations will have visitor hard hats, other locations do not.
Hard hats must be CSA approved. ANSI approval is close but not quite the same. Get a Class E hard hat that is either Type I or, better yet, Type II.
Class E = protection against electrical contact up to 20,000 volts
Class G = protection against electrical contact up to 2,200 volts
Class C = no electrical rating
Type I = protection from vertical impact
Type II = protection from vertical and lateral impact
If you prefer to wear a hard hat backwards to accommodate a large camera, be sure the hard hat is approved for reversibility.
Don’t bother with old or used hard hats. Hard hats have a lifespan of 3 to 7 years. Old hard hats may not conform to today’s standards.
Bump caps may look cool but they aren’t safe enough for construction sites.
Eye Protection
Buy at least one pair of safety glasses. These must be CSA approved. Safety glasses can be tinted or polarized but this may interfere with your photography. Some glasses are photochromic which means the lenses will turn dark outdoors.
If you wear prescription eyeglasses, buy safety glasses that fit over your eyeglasses. Yes, this means that you’ll be wearing two pairs of glasses and it will feel weird, but it shouldn’t interfere with your photography. I wear safety glasses overtop my prescription eyeglasses and there’s no problem looking through a camera viewfinder.
If you’re photographing in a laboratory or around hazardous chemicals, you may need protective safety googles or a face shield which means you may need to use your camera’s live view mode.
You may need special eye-wear around arc welding, torch cutting, etc.
In some situations or locations, you may not be allowed to wear contact lenses.
More to Remember
In locations around hazardous gases, flash may not be allowed. Always ask if flash can be used.
Don’t forget your ears. At the minimum, carry several pairs of disposable ear plugs.
You may need a safety vest and many locations have vests for visitors. But if you do this a lot, you may want to buy yourself a good quality vest. Get one that’s both fluorescent and reflective. Velcro closures may be better than zippers or snaps.
It should go without saying but, wear long pants, long sleeves and socks. Some situations don’t allow for uncovered skin. Some situations may require specialized clothing (e.g. hospital operating room, cannabis grow room, laboratory, food processing plant).
Safety work-wear means little without common sense. Always be aware of your surroundings. Never assume that onsite workers see or hear you. Don’t just wander about, as photographers often do when they’re looking for the best camera angle.
