Comparing the safety conditions on adult film sets to those in Third World sweatshops, an AIDS advocacy group said Thursday it had filed complaints against 16 production companies for filming unprotected sex.

Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, said the complaints were filed with the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

The group alleges that the unprotected sex in the films demonstrates unsafe behavior in a California workplace. The group says it will support the complaints with nearly 60 adult DVDs.

“As a global HIV and STD medical provider operating treatment clinics and prevention facilities here in California, we see it as our duty to pursue action on the issue of safety in the workplace,” Weinstein said in a statement. “In these instances, unprotected sex acts are taking place in albeit non-traditional workplaces — porn sets located throughout the San Fernando Valley that are churning out billions of dollars of adult fare.”

Production companies listed in the complaint include eight in Chatsworth, two in North Hollywood and two in Canoga Park, one each in Van Nuys and Sherman Oaks, and one in Los Angeles. Hustler Video in Beverly Hills, also was named.

The complaints were filed in response to reports that an adult-film actress tested positive for HIV in June. Workers at the Sherman Oaks-based Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation, where the woman is a client, have said her case is isolated and is significantly different from the HIV scare that jolted the industry five years ago.

Cal-OSHA officials said employers must establish an effective control plan to limit exposure to blood-borne infections such as HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.