Association of occupational sun safety policy and actions in state transportation sector in the United States

• Published in: American journal of industrial medicine Vol. 64; no. 4; pp. 274 - 282
• Main Authors: Buller, David B., Walkosz, Barbara J., Olivas, Savanna, Eye, Rachel, Liu, Xia, Kinsey, Alishia, Buller, Mary Klein, Grayson, Andrew
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.04.2021
• Subjects: cancer; Humans; occupational; Occupational Exposure - prevention & control; Occupational Health; Occupational safety; Organizational Policy; Policies; policy; prevention; Safety; Safety management; skin; State Government; Sunlight - adverse effects; Transportation; Transportation industry; United States; Workplace - organization & administration; Workplaces; United States; skin; cancer; occupational; prevention; policy
• ISSN: 0271-3586; 1097-0274
• DOI: 10.1002/ajim.23214

Background Occupational sun protection is recommended by government health authorities. Sun safety policies and predictors of managers’ reports of sun safety actions were assessed. Methods Written policies from 21 state departments of transportation (DOTs) enrolled in a randomized trial to test methods for scaling‐up an occupational sun safety intervention were coded for sun safety content at baseline. Managers (n = 1113) supervising outdoor workers reported on sun safety actions in a baseline survey. Results Twenty state DOTs (95.2%) have a policy with at least one sun protection component. Sun safety training was increased at workplaces with a written sun safety policy (p < 0.001) and unwritten standard procedures on sun protection (p < 0.001). Reported sun safety actions were highest where there was a written sun safety policy (p < 0.001) and unwritten standard procedures on sun protection (p < 0.001). Conclusions Policies are essential for the implementation of employee sun safety. There is room for improvement in existing policies of state DOTs.