Several contestants on Netflix’s new show The Squid Game: The Challenge have instructed Daniel Slade, chief executive of law firm Express Solicitors, to help them seek compensation for injuries they suffered while filming the show in January. of this year.
According to Slade’s statement, the contestants claim they suffered injuries such as hypothermia and neurological damage as a result of poor health and safety standards during filming.
“We have sent out letters of claim on behalf of injured contestants on this show,” says Slade. “From what we’ve been told, they pushed the boundaries of safety in the name of entertainment,” she adds.
Slade assures that “production companies must ensure that health and safety standards are met in their programs, protecting people from harm.”
“The contestants thought they were participating in something fun and did not expect to suffer such damage. They have suffered injuries after spending time trapped in painful and stressful positions in cold temperatures,” he explains.
Netflix invited 456 hopefuls, the same as on the hit show, to compete for a record prize of £3.7 million.
The game was filmed in the UK in January this year at a huge former RAF base outside Bedford, which previously hosted Batman and Star Wars films.
The producers were filming the game (Red Light, Green Light) when the contestants began to feel unwell due to the low temperatures.
Players wore special vests with ink jets that exploded when they were “killed.”
But contestants complained that they were going off even if they didn’t move and that their clothes didn’t fit properly, exposing them to the cold.
The rest of the game was filmed at Wharf Studios in London with six interconnected sets used to recreate the Squid Game environment.
Deadline reported in February that The Squid Game: The Challenge faced an independent safety inspection after medical incidents on set.
Britain’s Health and Safety Executive reminded producers to adequately plan for risks in recreating the hit Korean drama, but ultimately decided no further action was necessary.
While the show makes it seem like the entire contest lasts just five minutes, the sequence was actually filmed over the course of several hours during frigid winter conditions (one report claimed temperatures dropped to -2 degrees Celsius). “It was like a war zone,” one contestant told the Hollywood Reporter. “The doctors took people out, but we couldn’t say anything. If you talk, then you’re out.”
“We have a case where someone complains of hypothermia. One of them had his hands turning purple from the cold. These injuries can have very serious long-term health implications. One of our clients complains that he They gave them clothes that don’t fit even in the cold,” says Slade.
For his part, the show’s executive producer, Stephen Lambert, assured the magazine that “we are giving away the largest prize in the history of the television contest and it was not going to be a walk in the park.” “Despite that, although there were times when it was quite difficult it was much more enjoyable and much easier compared to some of the survival programs that have been done,” he added.