Brand: Marley

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Marley has published research on sun safety attitudes among outdoor workers, drawing on a survey of 250 people across roofing, landscaping, and rendering. Nancy Lloyd, Marley's Channel Marketing Manager, shared the key findings with Professional Builder.

The top-line number is broadly positive: 83% of respondents reported positive sun safety awareness. But Lloyd's read on the data is more cautious. Awareness and consistent behaviour are different things, and the findings suggest the gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it on a busy working day remains significant.

What the research covers

The survey targeted workers in roofing, landscaping, and rendering, which puts respondents solidly in the group with the highest UV exposure of any outdoor trade. Roof work in particular involves sustained exposure on a reflective surface with minimal shade, at height where wind assists evaporative cooling but does not reduce UV exposure.

Rendering and screeding workers face similar conditions. Landscaping workers often have more shade available but also work through the hottest part of the day in a way that indoor trades do not.

The practical gap

Lloyd's comment points to simple habits as the lever most likely to make a difference. The kind of habits she is describing include applying SPF 30 or higher sunscreen to exposed skin before starting work and reapplying through the day, wearing a wide-brimmed hat or neck shade rather than a baseball cap (which does not protect the ears or the back of the neck), covering forearms and the back of the neck, and drinking water regularly rather than only when thirsty.

None of these are complicated or expensive. The barrier is mostly that they require a routine to be built, and on a working site where attention is on the job, the routine is the first thing to go.

Why it matters for trades

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, and outdoor workers face significantly higher UV exposure over a working life than most of the general population. The HSE includes UV exposure from the sun in its guidance on occupational health risks. Sun damage is cumulative and largely invisible until significant damage has already occurred.

The Marley research is a prompt for site managers and self-employed trades to look at what, if any, sun safety provision is in place for the current heatwave period and what habits are actually established on site.

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