This case study shares our experience of using the Climate Hazards and Vulnerabilities in the Workplace resource to support Film City Glasgow (FCG) to identify potential climate risks/vulnerabilities and adaptation actions relevant to the site.
CASE STUDY Film City Glasgow
Glasgow City Council’s Green Business Support programme, launched in 2022, is designed to help local companies transition to Net-Zero, reduce their energy costs and become more resilient to climate change. As part of this programme, sustainability charity Sniffer has delivered four innovative pilot projects to test different approaches to providing SME support on resilience to the impacts of climate change. This includes collaboration with the creative economy and screen sector to explore sustainability and climate resilience within the industry.
Site Information Film City Glasgow is a vital production base for much of the feature film and television industry within Scotland. The facilities comprise of production office space, studio/build space, workshop areas, rehearsal/meeting rooms, a café and creative business officers. It is home to over 25 permanent tenants from the screen and wider creative industries. It also has flexible low-cost short-term space hire. Users of the space include Film City Glasgow staff, tenants, short term production teams, freelancers, interns, and occasionally members of the public.
The buildings are owned by Glasgow City Council. The core of the site is the Victoria-era former Govan Town Hall, a Category B listed building. The redevelopment of the site has retained many of the original features of the building. A new extension was added in 2008 and FCG plans to update several parts of the old building in the future.
This case study shares our experience of using the Climate Hazards and Vulnerabilities in the Workplace resource to support Film City Glasgow (FCG) to identify potential climate risks/ vulnerabilities and adaptation actions relevant to the site. It provides details of our approach, and a selection of the types of issues that could be identified for action in similar sites. It should prove useful for those with similar sites and or those working in the film production sector. This case study does not specify what FCG should do on its site.
What we did
Using the Climate Hazards and Vulnerabilities Workplace resource, we undertook a risk assessment through a site visit to Film City Glasgow. We held discussions with personnel from FCG to understand how the site is used, the risk profile of building users, and operations.
Impacts of our changing climate on the screen sector may include: • shooting delays; • less seasonality and harder to schedule; • increased costs and harder to get insurance; • unsafe working conditions and accidents and safety lapses; • travel disruption and infrastructure failure; • equipment overheating and failure; • supply chain disruption; • flood and storm damage; • and health impacts, for example heat stroke, fatigue and food poisoning.
Freelancers and lone workers
Production company teams often include a high proportion of freelancers whose job security may be precarious, for example when schedules are interrupted or delayed because of extreme weather events. Reducing the likelihood and or extent of delays at sites such as FCG is thus financially beneficial to production companies and their freelancers. Out of hours lone working is common, especially in post-production. Lone workers such as freelancers can be at risk on large complex multi-use sites from extreme weather events because their whereabouts may be unknown. If a lone worker is injured in the evening, for example, it may take some time to find them. Ensuring systems are in place that establish who is onsite and where is beneficial not only for climate hazards but for general staff health and safety. Lone working protocols that include training and the provision of alarm key fobs will reduce the risk of harm and should increase feelings of comfort and safety.
We also talked through how the building currently functions, any historical issues or problem areas, businesses critical areas and locations, and future plans. We conducted a walkaround to gather the experience and institutional knowledge of personnel involved in the operation, maintenance and use of the facilities. The format is like a health and safety audit. It enables risk assessors to become familiar with their assets, how they operate, any current issues, and to look for areas which could be prone to climate hazards as the climate changes.
In addition to the internal site walkaround, we also assessed the façade of the building, the site perimeter, and the local streets and greenspace. Following discussions, the walkaround, and a review of the site plans we wrote up our observations and recommendations for Film City Glasgow. These included areas for consideration, and potential solutions. From that work we can draw out general issues relevant to similar sites although every site and workforce will have its own individual needs. We outline these general issues below. Think about risks and plan risk mitigation BEFORE they happen. The systems that underpin our modern life are more vulnerable than we’d like to think.
Storm or freeze/thaw damage to external detailing The architectural detailing of ornate period buildings can often become fragile over time, particularly those made of sandstone. Climate change impacts can further weaken elements on these buildings. If elements fracture and fall, they pose a risk to workers, passers-by, vehicles and the building itself. If you have a building like this, you should have it surveyed and plan in any maintenance and remediation work. You should also ensure workers on the site know how to detect and report any damage to the building along with health and safety concerns. Care should be taken after periods of extreme cold and during high winds when damage is more likely to occur.
contains any essential services such as heating equipment or servers, as well as assessing the conditions of the building’s fabric and drainage system. You’ll then need to assess the impact of basement flooding. Is there business critical infrastructure in the basement, and, if so, does it need enhanced protection or moved to a less vulnerable part of the site? Are any safety improvements required to the access routes to the basement in the event of deep-water flooding? When assessing an outdoor area, you’ll be looking at how it’s used and who by. Would any equipment and or people be at risk from flooding? Flood risk should also be considered when choosing location for on-site shooting location.
Surface water flooding to basement and outdoor areas Surface water flooding occurs when a sudden extreme rainfall event overwhelms local drainage infrastructure. Checking SEPA’s future flood map projections will help you identify whether a site or part of it is at risk. When assessing a basement, you’ll be looking to see whether it
Impacts on thermal comfort and operating costs Scotland’s screen sector occupies a variety of premises type – including historic buildings and large multi- functional sites. Thermal comfort on large sites or historic buildings can be challenging and this discomfort is likely to worsen as the climate changes. While heating requirements in early and late winter are likely to fall, the need for artificial cooling is likely to rise. This is exacerbated for sites in built up areas with comparatively
Other actions to increase resilience
little green space. This could result in increased operating costs. The most resilient strategy for addressing thermal comfort and managing operating costs is, where possible, to install high levels of insulation and natural ventilation. Depending on the building, you may also consider upgrading windows and or using thermal blinds, using multi heating zones in Building Management Systems, and provide weather appropriate PPE to staff. The impacts of climate change will be surprising. The full range and breath of impacts are often not apparent until months later. Recovery may be protracted and uneven. Low paid and front-line workers are most at risk.
There are, of course, many more issues than these that are likely to need addressed. General actions for sites like these include: naturalising the site by tree planting, installing permeable paving; tackling any problems as soon as they arise; having a building/site maintenance programme in place, recording when costs and disruption arise due to weather conditions; prioritising the most vulnerable workers on site; and, most importantly, raising awareness of those working on site to climate change impacts and actions that can be taken collectively to adapt and increase resilience.
Acknowledgement Sniffer would like to thank Film City Glasgow for its support with this project, for showing Sniffer around the wonderful facilities, and for the experience and insight that staff shared with the risk assessors. We are also grateful to the Scottish Trades Union Congress and UNISON for their work on the Climate Hazards and Vulnerabilities in the Workplace resources. This project was made possible through funding from Glasgow City Council Green Business Support Programme.
1. Who will be most vulnerable to climate risks? 2. Who may need support to increase their resilience? 3. Where is already experiencing weather-related impacts/damage? 4. What is business critical/safety critical and must be protected? The next set help us understand when we should consider climate risks and implement adaptation action. The third set take us through a climate risk assessment. A final set of tables helps us to translate risks into resilience actions for different types of workplaces. These resources can be downloaded for free from the Adaptation Scotland website .
The Climate Hazards and Vulnerabilities Workplace resources The Climate Hazards and Vulnerabilities Workplace resources were developed by Sniffer in partnership with the STUC and UNISON Scotland as part of the Adaptation Scotland programme. They contain advice and checklists to identify and address climate hazards and vulnerabilities. As it is generally not possible to increase the resilience of an entire workplace or workforce simultaneously, climate change action will need to be balanced against other risks and competing pressures. Resilience action, therefore, needs to be targeted. Thinking about where we need to act first to make a workplace climate safe depends on the sector, workplace and location. The first set of checklists in the Tools for Practical Action Today workbook help us understand where we should consider climate risks and prioritise adaptation action.
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