BENEFITS
During the summer, workers who work outside are not only at risk of heat stress and other heat-related illnesses but also skin cancer from exposure to the sun. The sun’s UV radiation penetrates the skin and harms the DNA within the cells of the skin and other parts of the skin. In the short term, sun exposure can cause sunburns and suntans. Both are signs of skin damage. But repeated exposure over the years may result in sun-induced skin changes, such as wrinkles, mottling of skin colour and skin cancer.
HOW TO USE THE TOOL
Use this Model Sun Safety Policy to develop such a policy for your company. Tailor this policy to be consistent with your company’s OHS program and other policies. Make sure to train all workers, especially those who work outside, on it.
There’s also a chart you can use to track the progress of the implementation of your sun safety policy. You should measure the behaviour of workers before and after instituting sun protection changes. The first post-implementation assessment should be about three months after introducing sun protection measures. But evaluation of the effectiveness of the program should be ongoing.