This Studio is Dangerous! Hazards of working in British film studios in the 1930s and 1940s

This article examines the high number of fires in British film studios which occurred in the 1930s and 1940s. The reasons for studios’ vulnerability to fires, and other workplace accidents, are examined, based on the many reports published in the trade, national and regional press of the serious damage caused to buildings and personnel. The article traces a culture in which health and safety matters were for a long time considered to be largely the responsibility of employers who typically responded to individual incidents rather than reform workplace health and safety. Since studios were not officially classed as factories until their inclusion in the Factories Act 1937, it was only during and following the Second World War that health and safety began to be taken more seriously by the government, local and regional authorities. Yet even then, and despite trade unions’ pressure in highlighting the hazards experienced by studio employees, it took considerable time for health, safety and wellbeing to be prioritized. The article concludes by reflecting on the legacy of past attitudes, and how health and safety continues to be of serious concern in today’s film studios.