More Than Just a Few Bad Apples: Taking a Risk Management Approach to The Problem of Workplace Bullying in The UK Screen Industries
Following an extensive study of management practices within the UK’s unscripted television sector, Dr Christa van Raalte summarises research from respondents who had experienced or witnessed some form of bullying or harassment within the workplace. Read on to find out more, and see the full article, which she co-authored with Dr Richard Wallis and Dawid Pekalski, linked at the bottom of this page.
Key facts
- Bullying and harassment are major issues in the UK screen industries, and a leading cause of poor mental health.
- The causes are largely systemic - that is to say the nature of our industries makes them particularly susceptible to instances of bullying, harassment, and discriminatory behaviours.
- The risks of bullying and harassment can be mitigated by a few key management practices.
A serious problem for the screen industries….
…. with serious consequences
The Film and Television Charity’s 2019 Looking Glass Survey into the industry’s mental health crisis, found that 80% of people working in the industry had experienced or witnessed bullying, harassment, or discrimination in the workplace – with 56% reporting incidents in the previous 12 months. Perhaps as a result of the increased profile of these issues in the industry, in the 2024 report the proportion who had experienced bullying, harassment or discrimination during that year had reduced to 41% - however this is still two out of five people – and two and a half times higher than the national average of 16%. It is clear that the few high-profile cases that have hit the headlines over that period are only the tip of the iceberg, and cannot be dismissed as the activities of ‘a few bad apples’.
Producer“All too often commissioners are promised the world but with no realistic ways of achieving it with the budget and staff available and that is where poor management comes in.”
Runner“All freelance staff are frightened of criticising the person who employs them as they know they won’t get booked again. This enables a culture of bullying and under payment and consequent exploitation to thrive.”
Bullying, harassment and discrimination are cited as major causes contributing to the industries poor mental health outcomes, with 35% of people working in the industry rating their mental health as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’ in 2024. Again this compares unfavourably with around 20% in the general population, and is exacerbated in those individuals identifying as freelancers, women, Black and Global Majority, disabled, neurodivergent or LGBTQ+. Bullying, harassment and discrimination are also identified as reasons why skilled and experienced people leave these industries.
Systemic risk factors
Researchers in the field of organisational behaviour have identified specific job characteristics and organisational factors that make bullying and harassment at work particularly likely, and particularly difficult to combat.
Their findings suggest that the risk of workplace bullying is greatest where
workloads are high and mentally demanding,
where teams are working under pressure to tight schedules
where roles are not clearly defined (in terms of responsibilities or hours)
where people have to balance conflicting demands, or deal with competing structures of control
where lines of communication are unclear
where job insecurity leads to a reluctance to report concerns
Our readers may be concerned, if unsurprised to note that these features add up to a pretty accurate portrait of the UK screen industries.
Edit Producer“A recent experience saw me working with an SP and an exec with shockingly bad communication skills. No guidelines or templates on how to make the show, no checking in to see how the edit [was] going, not making themselves available to answer questions, not sending feedback on time (in one case, four days late in a seven-week edit), not checking to see how your working day is or why you’re forced to stay late.”
Mitigating the risk of bullying and harassment
The good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way. As with any work-related hazard, risk can be reduced through assessment and mitigation.
Measures shown to have a powerful and immediate effect in reducing the risk of bullying, harassment and discrimination across an organisation include:
Regular constructive feedback
Addressing issues and conflicts before they escalate
Positive role models
Professional development opportunities
A sense of collective mission
The evidence suggests that positive management practices can provide a powerful antidote to what 77% of people in the industry have described as a mentally unhealthy workplace.
Shooting Assistant Producer“There is no proper feedback process in the industry. People begin and end jobs having no idea whether they are qualified, able to do the role, have done a good/bad job, areas of improvement etc.”
Prevention is better than cure
Over half of individuals experiencing bullying, harassment or discrimination fail to report it, either because they are not aware of the structures for doing so or because they do noy trust them to produce positive results. Freelancers are even less likely to report than staff. The creation of the new Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) is certainly a step in the right direction in ensuring that all everyone feels confident that there is somewhere to report their concerns. However it remains the case that prevention is better than cure – a principle embedded in the new legal responsibility of employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment (Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023). Many managers, however do not feel confident in this space and/or have no training to help them adopt the kind of daily practices that mitigate against bullying and harassment.
Senior Producer“I honestly believe a lot of the current issues in our industry (bullying, racism, stressful working conditions) could be dealt with if there was compulsory training for managers.”
Management training and support
It is incumbent on those individuals whose role requires them to take management responsibility for others to ensure they are aware of their legal responsibilities. It would be desirable for such individuals to be offered the opportunity to undertake management training and for businesses to support management training for both staff and freelancers.
Dr Christa van Raalte
Associate Professor in Film and Television at Bournemouth University