News
Complex Safety and Health Risk Management project in the Jungles of Borneo
7 September 2007
Remote Trauma has recently returned from working in the jungles of Sarawak, on the Island of Borneo, providing safety and health risk management advice and support for a provocative and challenging television series in one of the most hostile environments on the planet.
Remote Trauma was contracted by Cheetah Television part of Endemol UK (www. endemoluk.com) to provide a specialist safety and health risk management package for the production. This involved a member of our high-risk safety team conducting a Recce in August 2007, after which a casualty evacuation plan and comprehensive risk assessment was produced.
Specialist training was also provided for the crew, who all attended a one-day country specific “Living & Working In The Jungle” Travel Safety Awareness Course, to equip them with the skills required in order to work in such a remote and potentially hazardous environment.
The objective of the production was to record the trials and tribulations of 10 overweight teenagers as they learnt to live and hunt with the formerly fierce Head-hunters of Borneo, an indigenous tribe called the Iban.
Here the teens were required to follow the strict rules of their hosts and lived life as it used to be, in the wild, on a natural and unprocessed diet. If they wanted to eat, they must first pick, dig, trap, kill and cook their food.
A Remote Medical Practitioner / Safety Advisor accompanied the production prior to and during filming and was available 24/7 for advice and support on any safety or health issues affecting the production personnel or the contributors. The medic / safety advisor was supported in the field by several local Malaysian Doctors who provided support on a rotational basis. In total, including locally hired personnel, Remote Trauma was responsible for 62 individuals’ safety and medical welfare based at two remote jungle camps.
The production presented its own unique challenges due to its geographical remoteness and environmentally hostile conditions. Travel within this part of the Borneo rainforest is conducted predominantly in Iban longboats. Due to the water levels and unpredictable turbulent currents, travelling on rivers at night was not a feasible option. This presented major logistical difficulties for the production crew and provided a few headaches when trying to develop a workable robust casualty evacuation plan.
The control measures put in place by the Remote Trauma safety team effectively reduced the risk to an acceptable level and ensured the safety of the crew and the contributors during filming.