Health and Safety for Marketing and Creative Agencies:Events, Shoots, Psychosocial Risk, and Compliance

Marketing and agencies covers a wide range of operations: integrated advertising agencies, creative and design studios, PR and communications firms, digital and content marketing agencies, social media agencies, event and experiential agencies, media buying agencies, video and film production businesses, brand and packaging design studios, and in-house creative functions within larger employers. The compliance profile shares common threads:

A hybrid creative workforce working across studio, home, and client offices. A project-based tail of events, shoots, activations, and experiential builds where the agency carries duty as employer, often as contractor under client procurement terms, and sometimes as designer or principal designer under CDM 2015 for activations that include construction work. A pitch-driven culture with deadline cycles that create documented psychosocial demand, and a workforce demographic skewed young, often with high vulnerability to overwork and mental health pressure. And an industry post-MeToo where Worker Protection Act 2023 reasonable steps documentation is increasingly a procurement condition from major brand clients.

Arinite provides Qualified consultants and compliance software to marketing and creative agencies across the UK and 50+ countries.

For agencies running events, activations, and experiential work, the project-based risk profile is materially elevated above the studio. Each event or activation requires its own documented risk assessment and method statement (RAMS) under MHSWR Regulation 3 and the wider regulatory framework.

What a Compliant Event Risk Assessment Covers

CDM 2015 for Activation Builds

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 apply to construction work, which includes the build of staging, scaffolding, structural elements, and bespoke installations on activations. Where CDM applies:

Most agencies discharge CDM duties through their production partners but the agency carries residual client-side responsibility. Arinite supports CDM 2015 capability planning, partner selection, and ongoing compliance.

Photo and video shoots, in studio or on location, carry distinct risk patterns:

Working at Height

Lighting rigs, set builds, camera platforms, and crane work all involve working at height. The Work at Height Regulations 2005 apply.

Electrical Safety

Lighting, electrical effects, generators, and temporary mains all require documented competent person installation and isolation procedures under the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989.

Manual Handling

Kit transport, set construction, equipment movement on location, and load-in / load-out activities all involve significant manual handling. Task-specific assessment under the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992.

Lone Working

Pre-production scouting, location reconnaissance, and post-production wrap-up activities often involve lone working in unfamiliar environments.

Talent Welfare

Shoot duration, break management, welfare facilities, mental health support, and (for shoots involving children) Child Performance Licences and chaperone arrangements.

Location Risk

Remote locations, urban locations, water, height, weather, and any specific environmental risks at the chosen shoot location.

Permits and Approvals

Filming permits, road closure notices, location owner permissions, and where applicable Civil Aviation Authority approval for drone work.

The agency business model creates documented elevated psychosocial demand: pitch cycles concentrating workload, client volatility creating unpredictable spikes, deadline-driven culture with extended working hours, and a young workforce demographic with higher vulnerability to mental health issues. Under MHSWR Regulation 3, psychosocial factors are a statutory risk assessment category. The HSE Management Standards and ISO 45003:2021 set the framework. See our stress and mental health at work page.

The Six HSE Management Standards Applied to Agencies

Worker Protection Act 2023 in Agencies

The Worker Protection Act 2023, in force from 26 October 2024, places specific weight on prevention of sexual harassment by third parties. For agencies, the high-risk third-party touchpoints include client entertainment, talent interactions, freelancer and contractor relationships, on-shoot crew interactions, and conference and award travel. Documented risk assessment, policy, training, and reasonable steps are required.

Every marketing and creative agency must:

The following is an illustrative example of how Arinite engagement typically runs for a marketing agency, drawn from common patterns across our agency client base.

An independent integrated agency with 120 employees and an active events and experiential practice approaches Arinite after a major brand client adds workplace H&S and Worker Protection Act 2023 documentation to their supplier compliance review. The agency holds a basic H&S policy but no current risk assessment, no DSE programme, and event RAMS produced on a per-project basis without consistency.

The client compliance review passes. The competent person retainer continues. The agency now deploys standardised RAMS on every event and shoot, with the production team supported by the Qualified competent person on a retainer basis.