date: 24 June 2009

embargo: 00.01hrs Friday 26 June 2009

Employers urged to do more to protect staff from the sun

Many of the 2,000 people who die every year as a result of skin cancer will have suffered harmful exposure to the sun whilst at work, says the TUC today (Friday) as it urges employers to do more to protect their staff who have to work outside.

With weather forecasters predicting a hot and sunny summer, the TUC has published new guidance for employers and unions on how to protect the hundreds of thousands of people who work outdoors when the sun is shining from the risks of UV radiation.

The TUC guide Skin Cancer and Outdoor Workers says that it is simply not good enough for employers to say they have no control over the weather or leave it up to individual workers to protect themselves from getting sunburnt. Employers have a legal duty to protect the health of their employees and there is much they can do from changing working patterns to providing sun canopies, lightweight protective clothing and sunscreen.

The TUC guide says that every year there are around 100,000 new cases of skin cancer, with 8,000 of these in the form of malignant melanoma, the most serious and fastest growing form. The number of men with malignant melanoma has increased five-fold in the last 25 years, and the number of women diagnosed has gone up three-fold in the same period.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'This is not a case of workers getting a little hot under the collar. Skin cancer is the fastest growing kind of cancer in the UK and is killing more and more people every year.

'While most of us are now wise to the need to cover up and splash on the sun lotion on holiday, employers tend not to give their sun-exposed employees much of a thought. This may be because unlike injuries caused by a fall at work, the damaging effect of the sun is not obvious until many years after the damage is done.

'Taking simple precautions like looking at what time of the day outside work has to be done, providing canopies, cool comfortable clothing and sun screen won't cost the earth and could help save thousands of lives needlessly being cut short.'

Skin Cancer and Outdoor Workers says that while it's not impossible to say how many deaths from skin cancer are as a result of exposure to the sun at work, the often fatal condition is becoming more common in people who work outdoors. It wants employers to treat the sun just as they would any other potential workplace hazard and offers them a checklist of what to do to keep their staff safe in the sun.

To reduce the risk of employees developing skin cancer, the TUC says that employers can:

• Change working practices so that less outside work needs to be done either in the hottest months or during the middle of the day when the sun's rays are at their strongest.
• Provide canopies, sheeting, or similar covering over open areas such as building sites where people are working, and make sure that there are shaded areas for staff breaks.
• Give information and guidance to staff on how they can avoid exposure to harmful UV radiation, making sure that advice is available in other languages so that migrant workers are not kept in the dark about damage from the sun.
• Make sure that any protective clothing is lightweight, long-sleeved and comfortable, is dense enough to prevent UV rays from getting through and allows body heat to escape. Employers should provide lightweight brimmed hats for all outdoor workers.
• Provide sunscreen dispensers and encourage individuals to apply it regularly on exposed skin. Sun screen should have a sun protection factor of at least 20 (preferably 30) and also give protection against UVA radiation.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

-Skin Cancer and Outdoor Workers is available at http://www.tuc.org.uk/extras/skincancer.pdf

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

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Contacts:

Media enquiries:
Liz Chinchen T: 020 7467 1248 M: 07778 158175 E: media@tuc.org.uk
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Press release (900 words) issued 26 Jun 2009