Construction accounts for half of work-related skin cancer cases and 42 percent of deaths.
With the UK weather improving, health and safety experts are encouraging demolition and construction workers to cover up to prevent sunburn and skin cancer.
A study commissioned by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) found there are 240 new cases of work-related malignant melanoma every year. The construction sector accounted for almost half of the deaths and 42 percent of the cases.
The researchers from Imperial College London were led by Dr Lesley Rushton, whose 2012 study for the HSE showed that more than 8,000 cancer deaths a year are caused by work-related exposures.
IOSH is now encouraging businesses to adopt “sun safe strategies”, such as providing regular updates on the UV index from weather forecasts, minimising sun exposure in the middle of the day, and asking employees to wear long sleeved, loose fitting tops and trousers. It is also advising firms not to let workers rely on sunscreen as their only protection method and to spread the message that it is possible to burn through clouds.
Read more here or check out the video below:
