This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

Local government organizations in Colorado have few specific occupational sun protection policies

Specific occupational sun safety policies were uncommon among local government organizations in Colorado who participated in a recently published study.

Starting on Aug. 15, 2010, researchers conducted a randomized, pretest-posttest controlled experiment of 98 local government organizations of Colorado cities with at least 3,000 residents. Eligible organizations had employees in one or more sectors including public works, public safety and parks and recreation. Written policy documents were reviewed between February and October 2011, with codes assigned to sun protection practices, environmental and administrative controls and policy directives for sun safety starting Feb. 10, 2011. The researchers evaluated an intervention to promote adoption of sun safety policies, with baseline assessment of the occupational sun-protection policies conducted.

Eighty-seven percent of the local government organizations had policies requiring personal sun protection practices in at least one sun-safety content area, which included the use of eyewear, hats and protective clothing. Few policies, including 8% of hat policies, 10% of eyewear policies and 7% of clothing policies, mentioned sun protection as the policy’s intent. Presence of sun safety policy only was only associated with proximity to urban area (OR = 0.99; 95% CI, 0.98-1).

“Outdoor workers are at increased risk for skin cancer because of long-term UVR exposure,” the researchers concluded. “Unfortunately, occupational sun safety polices remain uncommon among these organizations. Opportunities exist for dermatologists and physicians to have an effect on occupational practices and policies concerning sun safety, which are consistent with other safety procedures and could easily be integrated into existing workplace practices.” — by Bruce Thiel

Disclosure: Walkosz reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the study for a full list of the other researchers’ relevant financial disclosures.