SCENE 01 / HEALTH SAFETY COMPLIANCE
Health & Safety Compliance
Expert safety protocols and compliance coordination for productions in Turkey.
Turkey's Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331 applies to all public and private workplaces regardless of their field of activity. Its exclusions cover the armed forces and police, disaster response, domestic services and self-employed people with no employees; film and television production is not among them. Since a 2015 amendment to the workplace hazard classes, cinema, video and TV programme production (NACE 59.11.03) has been classed as tehlikeli, dangerous, which brings duties to engage an occupational safety specialist and a workplace doctor.
We build that into pre-production. Our team writes location risk assessments, arranges qualified safety staff, schedules within the Labour Law's working-hour limits, and gets the separate permissions that carry their own safety conditions: police for explosions and crashes in Istanbul, SHGM for drones, the Ministry of Labour for child performers, and the Cappadocia Area Presidency or site administration for protected landscapes and monuments.
Capabilities
Comprehensive Safety Compliance Solutions
Expert health and safety compliance services ensuring safe production environments and regulatory adherence.
01
Law 6331 on Set
- Written risk assessment per location
- Occupational safety specialist for the dangerous hazard class
- Workplace doctor arrangements
- Safety briefings in Turkish and English
- Nearest hospital and access routes for each unit
Film sets are not exempt
02
Working Hours
- 11-hour daily ceiling
- 45-hour normal week
- Overtime at 50%, capped at 270 hours a year
- Rest between shooting days
- Travel time counted in the working day
Fatigue is a safety risk
03
Child Performers
- General ban on work by children under 15
- Written contract for every child under 14
- Separate permit for each activity
- Art, culture and advertising only, without harm to development or schooling
- Guardian and schedule planning with the AD
Labour Law Article 71
04
Drones and Protected Sites
- SHGM permit and third-party liability insurance
- P1 commercial pilot licence under the 2026 instruction
- Cappadocia Area Presidency approval for set dressing
- Protected-area permits from the regional directorate
- National Palaces: no film shoots, drones only for authorised events
Permission with conditions attached
Complete Health Safety Management
Protocol Development
Comprehensive safety protocols including health screening procedures, testing coordination, and contact tracing systems with regular protocol updates based on current guidelines.
Health Compliance
Complete health compliance management including regulatory coordination with local health authorities, permit acquisition, and documentation management.
Safety Monitoring
Real-time health monitoring with daily screening procedures, emergency response protocols, and continuous protocol optimization throughout production.
Compliance Statistics
Why Us
Why Choose Fixers in Turkey for Safety Compliance
01.
We Plan to the Hazard Class
Film production sits in Turkey's dangerous hazard class. We staff and document the shoot on that basis from the start, rather than treating safety as a line on the call sheet.
02.
Hours That Stay Legal
Crew have described 18 to 19-hour dizi days once travel is counted. We schedule to the Labour Law's 11-hour ceiling, count travel time as the actors' union principles require, and allow proper rest before the next call.
03.
Location-Specific Planning
Antalya's July mean high is 34.2 °C with a record of 45.0 °C; Nevşehir averages −0.1 °C in January. We plan water, shade, cold-weather kit and road conditions for the place and season you are actually filming in.
04.
Protected Sites Without Surprises
In 2022 a commercial shoot in Cappadocia that applied material to the fairy chimneys was stopped by the gendarmerie and fined about TL 2 million, despite holding permit documents. We get written approval for anything that touches a protected surface.
Our Safety Compliance Process
Hazard Review
We read the script and schedule for stunts, special effects, vehicles, water, height, night work, drones, crowds and children, and list the permission each one needs.
Risk Assessment and Staffing
We write location-specific risk assessments, appoint the safety specialist the hazard class requires, and plan for heat on the Mediterranean coast and sub-zero mornings in Cappadocia and Ankara.
Permits with Safety Conditions
We file for police permission for pyrotechnics and crashes, SHGM drone permits with insurance, child-performer permits, and protected-site approvals, and carry their conditions into the call sheet.
On-Set Control
Our team tracks hours against the 11-hour limit, briefs every unit, keeps signed records of briefings and incidents, and stops work that departs from an approved method.
On Location
On a Turkish shoot, safety compliance runs through several laws at once: Law 6331 for the set, the Labour Law for hours and children, SHGM rules for drones, and heritage law for where you put the kit.
Hours are where Turkish sets most often fall short. The Labour Law sets an 11-hour daily ceiling, a 45-hour normal week, a 50% overtime premium and a 270-hour annual overtime cap. In practice, crew told Evrensel in September 2026 that contracts written for 12 hours stretch to 18 or 19 with shuttles, and the Sinema Emekçileri Sendikası described dizi days of 15 to 16 hours, citing a crew member who died in a road accident after a roughly 16-hour shoot; the cause is under investigation. The actors' union, Oyuncular Sendikası, adopted set-working principles from 12 January 2026 that recall sets are in the dangerous hazard class, call work beyond 11 hours unlawful, count travel time as working time, and recommend at least 12 hours' rest between shooting days. For a visiting production, the practical rule is simple: schedule within 11 hours including travel, and book transport so nobody drives home exhausted.
Specialist work brings its own conditions. In Istanbul, rules in force since January 2026 require police permission for loud scenes such as explosions and crashes, and filming on the water needs permission from the Provincial Directorate of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change. Under SHGM's earlier drone instruction, still used for permits during the transition, flights stay at least 50 m from people and structures, below 400 ft, and out of a 5-nautical-mile ring around runways and away from military sites and prisons; commercial applications need third-party liability insurance. Topkapı, Dolmabahçe and Beylerbeyi bar film, series and commercial shoots, and allow drones only for authorised event allocations cleared by SHGM. In Cappadocia, the Area Presidency controls the UNESCO-listed landscape, and the 2022 fine for applying material to fairy chimneys shows that a permit does not cover damage to the rock. Child performers under 14 need a written contract and a separate permit for every job. We assess each of these at the planning stage, so the risk assessment and the permits describe the same shoot.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Turkish health and safety law apply to a foreign film shoot?
Yes. Law No. 6331 covers all public and private work and workplaces regardless of their field of activity, and film production is not one of its listed exclusions. Cinema, video and TV programme production has been in the dangerous hazard class since 2015, which carries obligations to use an occupational safety specialist and a workplace doctor.
Can we cast children in Turkey?
Yes, within Article 71 of the Labour Law, as amended in 2015. Work by children under 15 is generally banned, but children under 14 may work in art, culture and advertising if the work does not harm their development or schooling, and only with a written contract and a separate permit for each activity. We prepare the contract and the permit application with the family and plan the child's hours with your assistant director.
What insurance do we need to fly a drone?
Commercial drone applications to SHGM, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, must attach a third-party liability insurance policy, and foreign operators have also needed their own aviation authority's approval of the aircraft. The Turkish filming permit itself does not list a production liability insurance requirement, though location owners may ask for cover in their contracts. SHGM issued a new drone instruction on 30 July 2026, with a P1 licence as the minimum for paid filming; the earlier permit procedures apply until its tracking system goes live.
What extra rules apply in Cappadocia and at heritage sites?
Göreme and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia are a UNESCO World Heritage property, and the area is governed by the Cappadocia Area Presidency under Law 7174 of 2019. Ministry museums and archaeological sites need extra permission from the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums. Protected areas run by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry issue paid filming permits through the regional directorate, and wetland absolute-protection zones need Ministry permission for filming from March to June. Hot-air balloons fly only when SHGM rules the weather suitable each morning.
Related Services
Productions in Turkey that need this often pair it with Site Surveys & Tech Scouting, Production Insurance, and Filming Permits & Licenses for full coverage. Most projects also draw on On-Set Medical Services and Pre-Production Services.
On Set
Ready to Ensure Complete Health Safety?
Professional safety compliance ensuring complete health protection and regulatory adherence.