California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health has issued a set of safety standards for all California porn production sets. The 21-page standards presentation (PDF) goes into graphic detail about the safety precautions that are to be undertaken when adult video actors perform various acts.
Here's one eye-opening detail from the document:
Personal Protective Equipment.
1. Where occupational exposure remains after institution of engineering and
work practice controls, the employer shall provide, at no cost to the employee,
appropriate personal protective equipment such as, but not limited to,
condoms, gloves for cleaning, and, if contact of the eyes with OPIM-STI is
reasonably anticipated, eye protection. Personal protective equipment will be
considered "appropriate" only if it prevents blood or OPIM—STI* from passing
through to or reaching the employee's eyes, mouth, or other mucous
membranes, or non-intact skin under normal conditions of use and for the
duration of time which the protective equipment will be used.
In the LA Daily News, Diane Duke, CEO of the Canoga Park-based Free Speech Coalition, said the proposed standards overshoots what is needed on porn sets:
“These are regulations designed for medical settings, and are unworkable on an adult film set — or even a Hollywood film set,” Duke said in a statement. Duke said her organization and several other groups would prefer to see the proposed regulation amended with input from both performers and public health officials, “in ways that protect adult film performers without stigmatizing and shutting down an entire industry.”
* “OPIM—STI” means pre-ejaculate, ejaculate, semen, vaginal secretions, fecal matter and rectal secretions, secretions from wounds or sores that are potentially infected with sexually transmitted pathogens, any other bodily fluid when visibly contaminated with blood or all bodily fluids in situations where it is difficult or impossible to differentiate between bodily fluids.
Image: Shutterstock
