Built environment cancer charity, We Build The Future, has launched a Sun-safe campaign to help reduce the risk and incidence of skin cancer amongst people working in the built environment industries.
Construction workers are at a heightened risk of developing skin cancer due to over exposure to UV radiation and account for 44% of occupational skin cancer diagnosis and 42% of occupational skin cancer deaths each year – despite construction workers making up only 8% of the workforce. We Build The Future’s Sun-safe campaign is a preventative campaign intended to help reduce the risk and incidence of skin cancer amongst people working in the built environment industries. Its aim is to promote sun-safe practices on every building site.
The Sun-safe project will:
- Promote awareness of UV risk amongst built environment industry workers and employers
- Provide access to simple advice on how to reduce UV risk
- Campaign for sites and offices to adopt safe practices to reduce UV risks
- Promote access to information and advice for people who are worried about skin cancer.
As part of the campaign, We Build The Future have teamed up with Melanoma UK and Rainbow Signs and will be offering Sun-safe site boards to employers and main contractors. Using a simple traffic light system to indicate daily UV risk, the Sun-safe site boards are positioned in a prominent location on site and the risk indicator checked and updated by site managers on a daily basis after checking Met office data for the location. The site boards also provide simple advice on how to reduce UV risk, and features QR links to further advice and support through Melanoma UK.
Commenting Richard Harral, founder of We Build The Future said: “Rates of skin cancer are rising faster than any other cancer in the UK. With 86% of all skin cancers the result of over-exposure to UV radiation from the sun, the majority are preventable. Our Sun-safe Campaign is about prevention, detection and awareness, with the site boards a clear and visual way to highlight the risk of sunlight and help try and change attitudes and behaviours. We urge construction site owners, employers and employees to take advantage of this innovative safety initiative.”
We Build The Future works to improve support and advice for people who work in the construction and built environment sector who face the challenge of dealing with cancer in their lives. The charity raises money to fund research which can help accelerate improvements in the prevention, detection and treatment of cancer, and also runs initiatives to promote health and wellbeing across the industry to help reduce the risk of people developing cancer in the first place.
For further information, or if you are interested in signing up or sponsoring our Sun-safe campaign then please get in touch at getinvolved@webuildthefuture.org
