AHF Files Complaint with Nevada OSHA Over Kink.com Shoot

LOS ANGELES—In a press announcement released late Wednesday afternoon, AIDS Healthcare Foundation says that it filed an official complaint last week with Nevada OSHA "against Bay Area adult film production company Cybernet Entertainment LLC, also doing business as Kink Studios, LLC and Kink.com (as well as DBA Hogtied.com and DBA Behindkink.com), over recent filming that may have exposed employees—adult film performers—to infectious disease by exposure to blood and other potentially infectious materials." Last month, Kink issued its own press release announcing that it had opened production offices in Las Vegas, and that it had wrapped production on two movies shot in Sin City. “Vegas is looking more and more attractive as time goes by,” said company founder Peter Acworth at the time. “The cost of doing business out there is lower. The resources are slowly moving there. It’s becoming easier and easier to do business. … I think that a lot of companies are doing what we’re doing. They’re setting up satellite offices and getting their feet wet with Vegas as a potential place to shoot.” In today's announcement, AHF states that in the July 25 complaint to Nevada OSHA, it asserts, “On June 8, 2014 in Las Vegas, NV, employees engaged in acts for an adult film owned and operated by Cybernet Entertainment LLC titled Hogtied Whores that resulted in exposure to bloodborne pathogens and other potentially infectious materials (OPIM). The website, Hogtied.com, which is owned by Cybernet Entertainment LLC, contains still images, video footage, and a film trailer that clearly demonstrate Cybernet Entertainment LLC allowed, and upon information and belief may have encouraged, employees to engage in activities in Las Vegas that are highly likely to spread bloodborne pathogens and OPIM in the workplace. Federal and state governing measures must be taken to control the spread of bloodborne pathogens and OPIM, which include, but are not limited to, HIV, hepatitis C, and syphilis in the workplace.” Readers should take special note of the language contained in that paragraph, especially the use of the acronym "OPIM," which stands for "Other Potentially Infectious Materials." It is a phrase with a very precise meaning, that is used most conspicuously throughout California Code of Regulations, Title 8, Section 5193, which sets out in detail workplace requirements for bloodborne pathogens and just happens to be the code that informs both Measure B and Isadore Hall's AB 1576, the first sentence of which reads, "In addition to the requirements of Section 5193 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations, an adult film employer shall include the following information in an exposure control plan." AVN's definitive coverage of Section 5193, published in 2013, defined the term: "OPIM are defined in subsection (b) as, among other things, '[t]he following human body fluids: semen, vaginal secretions, cerebrospinal fluid, synovial fluid, pleural fluid, pericardial fluid, peritoneal fluid, amniotic fluid, saliva in dental procedures, any other body fluid that is visibly contaminated with blood such as saliva or vomitus, and all body fluids in situations where it is difficult or impossible to differentiate between body fluids such as emergency response.'" [Emphasis added] In other words, AHF is using specific language common to state and federal statutes regulating bloodborne in convince Nevada OSHA to take similar action against Kink that Cal/OSHA did earlier this year when it levied over $78,000 in fines against the production company for workplace violations. Kink said it would appeal the fines. Today's press announcement also contained a lengthy quote from AHF president Michael Weinstein in which he takes direct aim at Kink's Acworth, accusing him of willful ignorance of the law. “Under the guise of his various Kink and Kink.com adult film businesses and brands, owner Peter Acworth thinks he and his companies can simply ignore the Federal OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens Standard with regard to required condom use in his adult film productions shot in Nevada," he states. "This new complaint in Nevada is based on the simple fact that they cannot hide from federal law there, or anywhere in the U.S. When we first proposed the Los Angeles City bill, the industry said they’d film in other L.A. cities. When we proposed Measure B for L.A. County, the industry said they’d film in other counties. And when we proposed AB 1576, the industry said they’d film outside of California. Here, Mr. Acworth will no doubt find out that both Nevada and Federal OSHA statutes apply as well. Are workers in Nevada any less entitled to protection from harm than those in California?” The reference to federal law is likely meant to reference the fact that Nevada uses federal OSHA bloodborne standards instead of developing its own, as California did. California, however, is also in the middle of a years-long effort to create bloodborne standards specific to the adult entertainment industry, an effort that one knowledgeable individual told AVN could take as many as two more years to complete. In the interim, the state as well as legislators like Hall—at the bidding of AHF—use current standards, which were created specifically for use in hospitals and other industries were the exchange of bodily fluids is probable. It is clear from a close reading of Section 5193, however, that the complex and comprehensive requirements found in those regulations are far more extensive than would be necessary to protect adult performers. Indeed, AVN's seemingly exaggerated reference in numerous articles over the past year or so to hazmat suits is a direct reflection of the extreme precautions imposed by Section 5193, which may be appropriate for an intensive care unit while being ludicrous for just about any other activity. But like them or not, those extremes as found in California's Section 5193 and also in similar OSHA bloodborne standards at the federal level are what is used to assess workplace violations in the adult industry—at least that is what AHF and Weinstein are hoping is the case in Nevada, where this complaint may be the first of its kind. AVN has reached out to Kink.com for comment, as well as to an industry lawyer conversant in Cal/OSHA issues, and will provide those comments as they become available.