Exposure to Solar UV During Outdoor Construction Work in Britain

Abstract

Excessive exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun in summer can cause skin cancer and in Britain there are around 1500 new cases of non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) each year, caused by exposure to solar UV at work. Little is known about the magnitude of UV exposure amongst outdoor construction workers in Britain, although this is one of the main groups at risk. The aim of this paper is to summarise measurements of erythema-weighted UVB radiation amongst construction workers in Scotland and the Southeast of England and interpret the data in terms of the risk of NMSC. The measurements were made as part of an intervention study using short mobile phone text messages to alter worker behaviour to either reduce UV exposure in summer or increase serum vitamin D in winter; the intervention is only briefly reported here. Data were collected from 67 workers from 9 worksites, of whom 41 provided measures of UV exposure for 758 working days. Daily exposure ranged from 0 to 13.47 standard erythema dose (SED), with the mean exposure for outdoor workers being 2.0 SED and the corresponding value for indoor workers being 0.7 SED. These data were obtained from a sensor located on the back of the workers hard hat; others have measured exposure on the wrist or upper arm and these locations probably, on average, have higher levels of UV exposure. It is likely that an outdoor construction worker in Britain could accumulate sufficient solar UV exposure over 30–40 years of work to more than double their risk of NMSC. We argue that employers in Britain should take a more proactive approach to manage sun safety and they should take responsibility for skin health surveillance for their workers.

Protection Against Solar Ultraviolet Radiation in Outdoor Construction Workers: Study Protocol for a Non-randomized Controlled Intervention Study

“…The risk of recall bias cannot be entirely avoided because we use questionnaires to measure the primary outcome, however, we counteract by limiting the timeframe through asking questions concerning 1 month in the past. Lastly, it is known that the body location of the UV-dosimeter has an impact on the measured exposure (52). However, we use UV-dosimetry only on one body location (i.e., the upper left arm) because this is practicable for construction workers, and this is the same body location as a large European study (27) used which makes comparison of UVexposure between our studies and other countries more feasible.…”

Workplace exposure to UV radiation and strategies to minimize cancer risk

“…Data for outdoor workers in Alberta, Canadian (latitude 54° N), 24 showed a similar range of exposure depending on job (mean for occupations from 0.7 to 2.6 SED) with an overall daily mean of 1.9 SED. Cherrie et al . 25 reported data for British outdoor construction workers with mean exposure of 2.0 SED (latitude 51.5–60° N).…”

“…The presence of an exposure-response relationship provides an alternative approach to identify jobs where NMSC is more likely than not caused by workplace exposure and workers could therefore be compensated for their disease. If we assume the average exposure of an outdoor worker in Britain was 2 SED, as measured by Cherrie et al . 25 amongst outdoor construction workers, on around 140 days each year (using the same assumptions as Schmitt and colleagues 37 , 38 for work between April and October 21 ), then British outdoor workers would on average have a doubled risk of BCC after 28 years and for SCC after 22 years.…”

PROJECT STAR (Midwestern Prevention Project): Overview

“…The second is the subsets of at‐risk people (children of substance‐addicted parents, those experiencing school problems). Third, those who show signs of risky behavior (students identified with substance use problems) (Center for Substance Abuse Prevention., 2006; Cherrie et al, 2020; Shamblen & Derzon, 2009). The web of influence model guides how an individual interacts in different sub‐areas (individual, family, peer, school, community, environment) and how these interactions will behave in becoming addicted to substances.…”