The unsafe act

Australia, 1965

This 1965 film dramatises a number of industrial accidents and how to avoid them. The film shows footage of workers in various occupations such as window cleaning, welding and bricklaying, and shows accidents that can occur in these environments. The dramatic voiceover warns against haste, improvisation, carelessness and failure to use safety devices, emphasising that most accidents occur in this way.

Produced by Fortune Films for the New South Wales Department of Labour and Industry.

There are several jumps in the soundtrack throughout the film due to missing frames.

Please note: As this is an archival work, the content does not reflect current practice or standards. Professional advice for up-to-date safety practices should be sought from the appropriate contemporary authority.

How to watch

This work has been digitised but due to rights and access requirements can only be viewed on-site at ACMI premises over WiFi or by researchers on request.

Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

production company

New South Wales. Dept. of Labour and Industry

Fortune Films

producer

R.D. Hansen

Duration

00:09:47:00

Production places

Australia

Production dates

1965

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

011378

Language

English

Subject categories

Agriculture, Business, Commerce & Industry → Industrial accidents

Agriculture, Business, Commerce & Industry → Industrial management

Agriculture, Business, Commerce & Industry → Industrial safety

Agriculture, Business, Commerce & Industry → Protective devices

Agriculture, Business, Commerce & Industry → Safety education, Industrial

Agriculture, Business, Commerce & Industry → Work practice

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → New South Wales - Social life and customs

Educational & Instructional

Educational & Instructional → Educational films

Educational & Instructional → Instructional

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Accidents - Prevention

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Industrial accidents

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Protective devices

History → New South Wales - History

Places → New South Wales

Short films

Short films → Short films - Australia

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Holdings

16mm film; Access Print (Section 1)

MOV file ProRes4444; Digital Preservation Master - overscan

MPEG-4 Digital File; ACMI Digital Access Copy - presentation

MOV file ProRes4444; Digital Preservation Master - presentation

MPEG-4 Digital File; ACMI Digital Access Copy - overscan

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/74226--the-unsafe-act/ |title=The unsafe act |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=7 July 2022 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}