Workplace bullying - Safety Institute of Australia

sunprotection
Sun protection
in the workplace
Australia has one of the world’s
highest rates of skin cancer. Craig
Donaldson looks at this issue in
the workplace and examines the
implications for employers
and OHS professionals
Between 1999 and 2004, the rate
of skin cancer claims (per million
employees) compensated by the Australian
Health and Safety Compensation
Council (now Safe Work Australia) more than doubled.
Sun exposure was the most common cause of compensated
cancer claims during the three years from 2001 to 2003
(22 per cent), followed by asbestos (21 per cent). Several legal
precedents have been set where employers have been found
negligent of adequately protecting their staff from the harmful
effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
Over the last five years, these claims combined with the
introduction of revised OHS guidelines such as the national
2008 update of the Guidance note for protection of workers from
ultraviolet radiation in sunlight has contributed to improvements
in workplaces when it comes to sun protection.
22%
Most common cause of
compensated cancer claims
during the three years from
2001 to 2003 (22 per cent)
How Australian workplaces fare
Australian workplaces are improving when it comes to protecting
workers from the harmful effects of UV, according to Sue Heward,
SunSmart manager at Cancer Council Victoria. “More and more
employers are recognising the damaging health effects of UV
(sunburn, premature ageing and most significantly skin cancer)
and how important it is to protect their employees from the damaging
effects from overexposure to the sun in the workplace,”
she says.
The SunSmart program in Victoria, for example, has found
increased participation in its UV workplace program as more
and more workplaces are recognising the importance of putting
specific UV protection policies in place.
Although Australian employers are improving, Heward
believes there is still a lot of work to do when it comes to unprotected
sun exposure at the workplace. Recent research has
shown that workers in industries including agriculture, forestry,
fishing, construction, transport, and education have high rates of
UVR exposure but Heward says these industries can do more to
provide sun protection to workers.
“The story for indoor workers is a balancing act that involves
“Outdoor
workers have
a higher risk
of skin cancer
because they
often spend
long periods
outside in
the sun year
round, over
many years of
working life”
Ian Olver, CEO,
Cancer Council
Australia
20
OHS PROFESSIONAL | September 2011