Skin cancer risk perception and sun protection behavior at work, at leisure, and on sun holidays: a survey for Danish outdoor and indoor workers

Solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation is the main cause of skin cancer, a major health problem throughout Europe [1]. The only way to rectify this problem is by better use of sun protection.

For outdoor workers, exposure is habitual during the hours around solar noon where solar UV radiation is most intense. International studies show high-level solar UV radiation exposure at work and increased risk of skin cancer in outdoor workers compared to indoor workers [1‐6]. However, in 2010, the Danish Cancer Society published a registry based case-control study showing a low risk of skin cancer in Danish outdoor workers compared to wage-earning men [7]. This counterintuitive result, also found in a previous Nordic studies [8], may reflect exposure misclassification for the cases or controls or self-selection of susceptible individuals into indoor professions or actual differences in sun protection behavior between outdoor workers and other workers.

Differences in sun protection behavior between outdoor and indoor workers at leisure and on sun holiday have not previously been studied as far as we know. We only know that individual use of sun protection varies considerably [9, 10] and that the solar UV radiation exposure of Danish outdoor and indoor workers differs significantly at work and is the same at leisure [11, 12] whereas sun holidays are more common at higher socioeconomic status in Danes and thus may be more frequent in indoor workers [13].

In Denmark, sun safety campaigns have failed to break the increasing curve of skin cancer incidence; skin cancer is the most common cancer and constitutes a rising health and socioeconomic problem [1, 14]. Sun safety campaigns that targets sun protection at work could work as an effective supplement to existing campaigns that mainly targets sun protection at leisure [15] and lead to better overall use of sun protection for the 400,000 Danish outdoor workers at risk. This would be analogous to the introduction of smoking ban at workplaces leading to an appropriate all-round modification of risk behavior in smoking—also a WHO group 1 carcinogen [16, 17].

Perception of disease risk typically motivates appropriate health behavior [18, 19]. This applies to skin cancer and use of sun protection at leisure and to some extend occupational skin cancer and use of sun protection at work [20‐22]. However, a study by the Swedish Cancer Society showed that people had a tendency to underestimate skin cancer incidence in the population as well as the general health effects of skin cancer despite an otherwise realistic perception of skin cancer risk [23]. In addition, it is argued that perception of disease risk is only necessary to consider behavioral change and not sufficient to induce actual behavioral change [24].

The International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) recommends workplace sun protection in form of long trousers and shirt with sleeves, a wide-brimmed hat, and sunscreen with protection factor 15–30 as well as shade seeking or breaks scheduled at solar noon [25].

Implementing the use of sun protection at work presents several challenges. Wearing long trousers, shirt with sleeves, and a wide brimmed hat while performing physical work in the summer causes increased body temperature leading to discomfort through heat sensation and physical exhaustion [26, 27]. Effective use of sunscreen requires a thick layer applied two or three times during working hours and is often perceived as a work hindrance due to stickiness [28, 29]. Shade seeking or breaks scheduled at solar noon impose financial and practical demands on employers [30].

The Danish occupational health and safety legislation have no requirements or operating guidelines on use of sun protection at work [31] and according to the health and safety organizations of major Danish contractors, general use of sun protection at Danish working sites is inadequate. This is somewhat in accordance with international studies on use of sun protection at work [32‐42].

Most international studies on outdoor workers use of sun protection originate in Australia, where construction workers and lifeguard’s use of sun protection is decent but unrelated to their skin cancer knowledge [32‐35]. A study from New Zealand reports coherence between workplace provision of sun-protective articles and actual use thereof [30]. Studies of outdoor workers in southern Europe find differences in attitudes about sun protection depending on profession. Attitudes were generally the best among farmers who nevertheless reported low use of sun protection, as did construction workers [36‐42].

Females are better at overall use of sun protection, especially sunscreen [30, 41, 43‐46]. Conversely, males wear a sunhat more frequently than females [43, 44, 46, 47]. Older age is associated with better overall use of sun protection [30, 48, 49]. Fairer skin type is associated with better overall use of sun protection and a greater risk of skin cancer [30, 33, 48, 50‐52]. Construction and farm work are related to a greater risk of skin cancer [30, 33, 53, 54]. To our knowledge, there are no prior published Nordic behavioral studies on outdoor workers perception of occupational UV radiation exposure and skin cancer risk and use of sun protection.

We found only one scientific publication on behavioral differences at work and at leisure in outdoor workers; a Canadian study reporting significantly better use of shirt with sleeves and hat as well as slightly better overall sun protection behavior at work than at leisure [55]. We found no studies comparing outdoor and indoor workers use of sun protection at leisure and on sun holiday.

Several studies indicate that sun protection at work requires a sustained cooperative interdisciplinary effort; combining legislation, workplace policy, and provision of sun-protective articles as well as educational and role modeling actions [26, 30, 56, 57]. Australian employers may actually be held liable for photo damage as a result of UV radiation exposure due to inadequate sun protection at work [57].

The closer to the equator the more frequent the use of sun protection [14], which is appropriate in some respects. However, Northern country populations are generally more susceptible to UV radiation by virtue of having Caucasian skin types 1–3 on the Fitzpatrick scale with relatively little melanin and an increased risk of sunburn [58‐60]. Therefore, sun protection is equally relevant in Northern European countries even if annual solar UV radiation is relatively lower compared to Southern European countries.

Table 1 summarizes the characteristics for outdoor and indoor workers with statistical outcomes. Indoor workers had a significantly higher mean age, prevalence of higher education, and proportion of former smokers compared to outdoor workers who had a higher proportion of current smokers. For sex, history of skin or lip cancer, alcohol use, solarium use, skin type, weekly outdoor stay at leisure, and frequency of sun holidays, no significant differences were found between the two groups.

Table 2 shows that among outdoor workers, near half (49.5%) do not think about the risk of occupational skin cancer, more than one in ten (11.8%) think the risk is insignificant or low and near one third (32.4%) think that use of sun protection at work is of low or no importance. Sun-protective measures made available at work are most commonly long trousers and shirt with sleeves (94.2%), followed by a wide-brimmed hat or cap (49.1%), sunscreen (29.6%), and avoiding the sun around noon (5.3%). In addition, employers attention to (22.1%) and information about (11.6%) use of sun protection at work is limited. The biggest challenges for using sun protection at work are that it is too hot (46.6%) or work disruptive (23.9%). However, very few outdoor workers (4.0%) consider the use sun protection at work as just not possible. Regarding beliefs around the risk factors for skin cancer, sunburn is considered important by 84.0% and the most important of those listed by 42.9% outdoor workers (not shown in table). Still, only about one in ten outdoor workers (11.1%) attest to never having been sunburned at work. More than eight in ten outdoor workers agree that the use of all types of sun protection reduces risk of skin cancer.

Table 3 shows that outdoor workers avoid the sun around noon and use a wide brimmed hat or cap and sunscreen significantly more at leisure than at work. The opposite is true for use of long trousers and shirt with sleeves. For differences in outdoor workers use of sun protection at work and on sun holiday, the results are similar: avoid the sun around noon d = −.997, use a wide brimmed hat d = − .452, use of sunscreen d = − .853, and use long trousers and shirt with sleeves d = .693, p < 0.001. At leisure, indoor workers use sunscreen more often when compared with outdoor workers. On sun holiday, no differences in use of sun protection were found between outdoor and indoor workers. Results in multiple regression models adjusted for age, sex, educational level, history of smoking, and skin type reduced the effect size of difference estimates severely, caused by the number of included variables and the reduction in liable observations (reduction between 6% and 7%) leaving no significant comparisons between groups. Multiple regression model results are presented as Additional file 1: Table S1.

Outdoor workers rarely or never use any type of sun protection at work (32.5%), at leisure (30.5%), and on sun holiday (13.9%). At leisure, outdoor workers use a wide brimmed hat or cap and long trousers and shirt with sleeves significantly more often compared to on sun holiday. The opposite is true for avoiding the sun around noon and use of sunscreen. The latter is by far the most commonly used form of sun protection on sun holiday. Sun protection of all types are used more often when made availability by employers at work (p < 0.001), except the use of long trousers and shirt with sleeves (p = 0.391). Long trousers and long-sleeved shirts are widely available (94.2%) but rarely or never used by outdoor workers at work (57.6%).

Our results show that Danish outdoor workers use sun protection significantly more at leisure and on sun holiday than they do at work and between outdoor and indoor workers, the only significant difference in UV exposure and use of sun protection outside working hours was for the use of sunscreen at leisure.

Many Danish outdoor workers do not consider the risk of occupational skin cancer or perceive the risk as low and rarely use sun protection at work. Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that most Danish outdoor workers have a history of sunburn at work.

Almost one third of outdoor workers rarely or never use any kind of sun protection. This applies to both at work and at leisure and reflects a sun protection behavior in line with their perception of occupational skin cancer risk and sun protection importance and contrary to the fact that most Danish outdoor workers agree that use of sun protection can reduce their risk of skin cancer.

Despite the challenges of using sun protection at work, only a minority of outdoor workers are actually opposed to it. In addition, judged by the willingness of several major Danish contractors to let their health and safety organizations contribute as active collaborators in this study, it seems that employers are positively prepared to offer their employees measures of sun protection at work.

Currently, only long trousers and shirt with sleeves are widely available from employers. However, in effect, less than half of the outdoor workers use long trousers and shirt with sleeves as sun protection at work, which is probably due to it being common workwear not intended as a sun protection measure and too hot to wear in the sun.

For comparison, a wide-brimmed hat or cap, sunscreen and avoiding the sun around noon are less often available from employers while availability and actual use are in fact significantly correlated for all of these at work.

The limited finding of behavioral differences in sun protection between outdoor and indoor workers in this study is unlikely to explain why Danish outdoor workers reportedly have low risk of skin cancer relative to the general population [7]. Furthermore, behavioral differences as regards UV radiation exposure at leisure, on sun holiday and by use of solarium between outdoor and indoor workers were not found in this study. Interestingly, sun holiday frequency was not positively associated with a significantly higher educational level in indoor workers in this study. Assuming that education level predicts socioeconomic status, this finding is contrary to results from previous Danish studies [11].

As is the case for outdoor workers in general, the use of sun protection is more frequent at leisure than at work for construction workers (n = 85) in this study. This is contrary to earlier findings in Canadian construction workers [53]. One possible explanations of this difference are more strict requirements for protective clothing and headgear safety use in Canada compared to Denmark [55].

People with high exposure to solar UV radiation often report themselves as having a higher skin type than that corresponding to their constitutive skin pigmentation [59]. In this study, outdoor workers show the same tendency to overestimate the sun protective properties of their own skin type, which further explains why almost nine out of ten have a history of sunburn at work. By comparison, in a 3-year prospective study, only half of Danish gardeners were sunburned [59] and in a population survey one third of Danish adults recalled at least one episode of sunburn in the last 12 months [10]. The marked difference in sunburn incidence is probably due to disparity in the sample period and population between the studies.

For preventive purposes, the more frequent use of sun protection at leisure and on sun holiday in Danish outdoor workers is something to build on as well as an indicator of the specific challenges of sun protection use at work. However, specially designed and commercially available UV protective clothing, hats, shading structures, and sunscreen can be applied to overcome some of the challenges [62‐65].

Sunscreen is often the most used form of sun protection, albeit the least useful [10, 29, 57]. In this study, sunscreen was also the most used form of sun protection at leisure and especially so on sun holiday for outdoor and indoor workers alike. It is our opinion that the marketing of sunscreen and lack thereof for UV protective clothing and hats is the main reason for this. Aside from avoiding the sun around noon, the use of UV protective clothing and hat should be first priority as sun protection. Accordingly, the results of this study showing that avoiding the sun around noon at work and the use of long trousers and shirt with sleeves at leisure and on sun holiday is rare in Danish outdoor workers should be a matter of concern.

This study strongly indicates that differences in the use of sun protection when exposed to UV radiation at leisure and on sun holiday between outdoor and indoor workers does not explain the, supposedly, lower risk of skin cancer in Danish outdoor workers relative to the general population, nor does there seem to be a decisive difference between Danish outdoor and indoor workers’ UV radiation exposure from weekly outdoor stay at leisure or sun holiday frequency. However, actual levels of UV radiation exposure should be measured objectively, using a technically and practically feasible method.

While risk of occupational skin cancer and the use of sun protection at work is largely neglected in Danish outdoor workers, they are still favorable towards the use of sun protection at work, especially so when provided by their employers. This indicates a great potential for introducing sun protection at work. The fact that outdoor workers protect themselves with greater care from the sun at leisure and on sun holiday and only differ from indoor workers by less use of sunscreen at leisure also suggests a singular prevention potential at work. Meanwhile, several major Danish contractors affirm that they are ready for taking part in responsibility for better sun protection at work by providing sun protection for the many thousands of Danish outdoor workers. However, currently, there is no legislation or guidelines for the use of sun protection at work to act on. Therefore, we propose the design of a commonsense operating guideline for the use of sun protection at work, as a joint effort between key stakeholders in the form of occupational medicine clinics, company health and safety organizations, worker unions, and The Danish Working Environment Authority.