'Morning all, Bit of an odd one for Monday morning. We have a photographer attending our premises and they want to use a drone for some aerial shots. Someone has dumped this in my lap, asking if its safe? My initial thoughts are its doesn't present much of a risk unless it malfunctions and drops on someone's head as it will be so high. A case of "dunno what do with this, dump it on H&S" perhaps? Does anyone have any thoughts on this, I know nothing about them or the regs that they adhere etc. Thanks

Are you under a flight path to an airport / heli-pad or air space with other restriction - MoD site / specific dated regulation (air shows, Obama visit)? These will all impact where and how aerial vehicles (including drones) may be operated. Is the drone operator a licensed professional or merely an enthusiatic amateur? If the former they will have a good understansing of what they can do and where - if the latter they may be oblivious to what can and cannot be done. Then you could also have debates about invasion of privacy since it will be carrying a camera.

thanks for the replies guys, points raised are appreciated. Essentially what I am asking is, should it really be dumped into my lap, if so what are the main things I should consider?

You need to speak with the photographer in question to satisfy yourself that they are competent to carry out the work

Russ As with so many scenarios raised on this forum the answer to your question depends on the circumstances involved. What sort of information can the photographer/s provide about the safe operation of their drone? As I understand that there are Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) rules about drones, I would expect the photographers to at least mention them and preferably how they comply with them. Are your premises near an airport or known flight path? To what maximum height will the drone be working over your premises? Drones are commonly used by various organisations and people nowadays for all sorts of purposes, not just aerial filming and photographs. For example, some months ago I read that the fire & rescue service in my area uses them with special cameras for rapidly and safely assessing the extents of fires at large premises and determining where such fires are concentrated. Also, I understand that police forces use them for some purposes as they can be far quicker, easier and cheaper to deploy than a helicopter. As an aside, with regard to drones which are commonly used for making TV programmes, it's fun to try and spot their shadows when they're used in sunny conditions - even though their operators try hard to avoid such shadows! The details for you indicate that you are an OSH professional, so it seems appropriate that you are being asked about drone safety. If you don't have prior experience/knowledge about an unfamiliar topic like this one, you are still being professional by seeking appropriate advice/information, e.g. asking on this forum - which hopefully will reap some helpful replies and therefore help other forum users faced with similar situations in future. However, from long experience when I worked in OSH, I can sympathise with what you describe about people using OSH as a dumping ground for problems they either didn't know how or couldn't be bothered to tackle! Even so, sometimes such situations helped to keep work interesting and honed a capacity for tact and diplomacy in dealing with people and situations. One of the most unusual requests I had was from a secondary school about how to deal with a bird of prey (later identified as a sparrowhawk) which had somehow got into its gymnasium! Graham B

Same as for any specialist contractor your company employ. Are you expected to become the expert in drones in the short time you have available, will your employer send you on a training course before the drone arrives. As said earlier, you should be asking the contractor to provide RA/MS and proof of competency. Do they have qualifications, training certs, previous clients you can contact etc.

Perhaps the company should, buy you one to play with ( sorry I mean assess). Would you believe it Security code = "ppigs", wonder if they are the flying kind ? Chris

By way of digression from the main theme of this thread, if any of you just happen to possess a tame bird of sufficient size, you might wish to consider equipping it with a small video camera to do some genuine bird's eye type (or bird's back to be precise) aerial filming. For a good example have a look at 'eagle-cam' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03gzvfq from BBC TV's "Winterwatch" series broadcast in late January this year. Presumably one notable advantage of using birds in this way is that they aren't vulnerable to mechanical and remote control failures as drones are. In recent times there have been a number of media reports of people being injured, sometimes seriously, through being hit by plummeting drones or lacerated by their propellers. Goodness knows which CAA regulations, if any, apply to avian-style filming!!! :-)

Well the first question is “Should it been dropped on my lap?”, well of course it should be that’s what H&S is all about: the thankless dammed if do, dammed if you don’t jobs that nobody else wants (abseiling down the rock of Gibraltar, disposing of licenced drugs, arranging vaccinations for bat handlers, risk assessing a clown on a motor scooter crossing a mezzanine etc). if you want something steady and predictable you should have been an accountant! Ass to what you should, well treat them like any other contractor coming onto your site: 1. Get them to write a risk assessment and send you a copy. 2. Read it: make sure it is a) written by someone who sounds competent and) is specific for your location 3. Talk to them preferable face to face (to quote a colleague: “See if you can spot any signs of madness in their eyes”). Check to see that they know what they’re talking about BUT remember the risk assessment is their responsibility not yours 4. When they come on site make sure that actually carry out what they promised in the SSOW they offered. 5. Go back to the day job in the knowledge that you have averted a disaster that nobody else had the balls to deal with themselves.

Given the drone has a camera and I assume some form of payment will be involved all the criteria listed by John above will apply. Also, there are data protection issues to be addressed. And a note about insurance, most PLI policies specifically exclude "aviation risk" so specialist cover will be necessary, check the certificate. We looked into this at my place and in short - it's a nightmare! (But the results are stunning and probably worth the effort).

Here's another digression with some more thoughts about the pros and cons of avian-style filming: Birds are inherently less controllable than drones. If raptors are used, they might be distracted from their task if they're peckish and happen to spot a vole or other tasty bit of prey below. Also, judging from the BBC eagle-cam clip mentioned at #14, the use of a bird seems very labour intensive: one person is needed to take the bird to a suitable start point, e.g. up a mountain, a second person to hold a device with a screen for receiving the video signal from the camera on the bird, and at least one other person to wave a dead mouse or other tempting morsel at the bird. In addition, just how easy or otherwise is it to obtain some dead mice?! Furthermore, if any of you fancy doing some avian-style filming and have a choice of suitably tame birds, do think about what sort to use. The command uttered by Chris Packham "release the eagle" at the start of the eagle-cam clip sounds quite impressive. By contrast "release the gannet" (or some other 'lower status' bird such as a crane, vulture or skua) just wouldn't have the same ring to it !!! :-( Graham B p.s. To avoid any possible confusion, the Chris Packham mentioned above is a TV presenter/naturalist chap and not the one who is well-known on this forum for his various helpful and constructive posts! :-)

As an alternative... Have you considered using one of these? Sometimes you may need to get up close and personal!..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEDrMriKsFM

So basically, any company in an industrial estate or similar, the rules above would prevent their use. So, unless your company is surrounded by lots of fields and no access road using this as a safe option for inspection at height has been effectively ruled out. Yet the ten-year-old in the nearby housing estate that just had one of these for Christmas, has absolutely no problem. Marvellous