CANOGA PARK, Calif.—Free Speech Coalition (FSC), the adult industry trade association, has announced the launch of the Adult Production Health & Safety Services (APHSS.org) program and database.
APHSS.org was created to fill the gap left by the closure of the AIM clinic and to carry on health and safety protocols for adult productions. The program and database were developed by FSC, working with legal and medical experts, industry members and Internet technology consultants.
"Our number one priority is the privacy and well-being of performers, as well as continuing health and safety standards for the protection of adult productions," FSC Membership Director Joanne Cachapero said. "We would like to thank FSC Board members Peter Acworth, Christian Mann and Alec Helmy for their time and effort in creating APHSS.org. Furthermore, we are very grateful to Dave Astels, who generously donated his time and database expertise to work with our IT team. We also thank all industry members that attended FSC meetings and offered their input to help develop APHSS.org.
"FSC would like to acknowledge the testing facilities working with APHSS.org, including AMTC, Primex Lab, LabTest LA, and the Healing Wave Center for reaching out to the adult community, to provide reliable health services both locally and nationwide," Cachapero added. "And we would like to recognize AIM for many years of service to the industry."
Performers, agents and producers can go to www.APHSS.org and click "sign-up" to be led through a simple registration process. Other information that is available at the website includes links to testing facilities, FAQs and contact information. Users are encouraged to view the FAQs on the website. As with any new system, users should be aware of small glitches. When signing up, users should receive a confirmation email, but some have indicated that the emails went to their spam folders; please, check there if you sign up and don't receive an email. For any questions or if you need assistance in accessing your account, please contact [email protected].
"We're starting from scratch with this database so we really need the support of performers and producers to get signed up," Cachapero continued. "We already have the support of major industry producers including Wicked, Vivid, Hustler, Adam & Eve, Kink.com, Girlfriends Films, Pink Visual and Manwin producers, and we appreciate their recognition of the need for this resource. We will be working closely with the LATATA organization and industry talent agents, to make sure to have their input for the program. We also want people to know they can contact us if they need assistance with any issues.
"Once we have the database populated, and as performers use APHSS.org testing facilities, data will be updated and users will be able to verify work availability on the site; this will take some amount of time, before the database is populated with information, as people start to use it. If anyone encounters any questions or issues, they can contact me directly. We also will have a Twitter feed @YourAPHSS," Cachapero explained.
For two months, APHSS.org will be accessible free of charge, in order to give users a chance to get used to the new format and for the database to become fully populated. After the initial period is over, performers will be charged an yearly fee of $50, and producers will be charged monthly, to use the database. Funds from those fees will go to expenses for APHSS program and website operations. Eventually, APHSS.org also will add educational resources for users, to keep industry members up-to-date on health and safety-related information.
APHSS.org also will include an Advisory Committee made up of medical and legal experts, as well as performer and producer representatives. Appointees to the Advisory Committee will be announced next week.
"The purpose of APHSS.org is to pick up where AIM left off and to improve on the resources that AIM provided. APHSS.org not only will uphold the protocols and procedures necessary to self-regulate adult industry productions, but also provide performers with options for healthcare, with facilities that are sensitive to their needs," Cachapero said. "This is a tight-knit community—with the proper resources, it will pull together to be pro-active and continue industry-appropriate standards that allow adult productions to operate in the safest environment possible."
For more information on APHSS.org or FSC, please contact [email protected].
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