ForConstructionPros.com

With construction crews around the country geared up for a long, hot, busy summer, many firms and businesses are thinking “safety.” But one safety issue that’s often overlooked is sun exposure. Working in the elements is part of being a construction worker, but it doesn’t mean you should forget about protecting yourself or your workers from this potential safety risk.

Cynthia Babbitt, a safety specialist in small business outreach, believes most individuals don’t think they’re vulnerable to the sun. For that reason, they make the mistake of not worrying about the amount of sun exposure they may get on the job.

“There’s a lot more stuff in construction that’s killing people more overtly than sun exposure,” says Babbitt. “There are falls, being squashed by equipment and machinery and trenching and shoring cave--ins. People die more frequently from those things than they do from sun exposure.”

But the risks associated with sun exposure are real and immediate. “Heat stroke, heat exhaustion, severe sunburns -- those things wear your people down and decrease productivity,” Babbitt points out. “When you’re worn down and tired in general, you’re more prone to have an accident.”

Dr. John DiGiovanna, a dermatology professor at Brown Medical School and an investigator at the National Cancer Institute, notes that skin cancer and other long--term effects of the sun are very preventable. Just as worker protection against ear and eye damage is commonly practiced, skin protection from ultraviolet radiation should become common practice, too.