Flashing a builder’s bum in the sun can kill, Brit construction workers have been warned

As forecasters predict record temperatures for the UK this summer – with bookies saying they could top 40C – outdoor workers are being advised to cover up to guard against the deadly effects of UV radiation.

READ MORE: Brits set for 'warmer than average' summer as hot spell to return next week

The nation’s two million builders are among those most in danger as they will find staying in the shade almost impossible.

And no matter how hard they try to cover up one part of the body has a traditional habit of peeping out – and it is hard to reach with sunscreen.

Builder’s bums are such a hotspot for sunburn health and safety officials and construction firm bosses have dished out advice on how to avoid over exposure.

According to the Health and Safety Executive UV radiation should be considered an occupational hazard for people who work outdoors’.

It warns construction workers to keep your top on’ and wear a wide-brimmed hat that covers the ears and back of the neck’.

They should stay in the shade whenever possible’ during breaks and lunch, drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration, and slap on at least factor 15 sunscreen on any exposed skin’.

The Institution Of Occupational Safety and Health said 1,700 people a year were diagnosed with skin cancer as a direct result’ of exposure to the sun at work.

Of those cases 60 prove fatal and 44% of deaths are in the construction industry.

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But a survey by skin care manufacturer SC Johnson Professional before the pandemic found just one in four outdoor workers wore sunscreen on the job – though most slapped it on while on holiday.

According to Safety & Health Practitioner magazine: For construction workers the risk is even higher than the average outdoor worker with UV radiation reflecting on concrete, grass and soil.Fresh snow can even double a person’s exposure to UV.’’

Jason Poulter, national construction officer of trade union Unite, said builders work long hours’ and it absolutely essential that during hot weather that employers take extra measures to ensure their wellbeing’.

Such measures should include extra breaks, the provision of free water and working under covered areas wherever possible,’’ he said.

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Bad employers who fail to take additional measures are deliberately risking the short and long term health of construction workers.’’

The TUC said bosses have a legal duty to protect’ workers and should risk assess their exposure to the sun as thoroughly as if they were handling dangerous chemicals’.

Union officials recommend practices are changed so workers stay out of the sun from 11am to 3pm – usually the hottest time of the day.

Along with lightweight, long-sleeved and comfortable’ protective clothing, brimmed hats and sunblock dispensers bosses should also provide canopies at building sites and shaded areas for breaks.

Bluestone Construction has previously warned its 1,500 workers of the dangers of builders’ sunburn.

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The Somerset firm organised a national roadshow to inform workers of the dangers of over-exposure.

John Rawlinson, the company’s then-South West regional managing director, said at the time not covering up in the sun was as dangerous as not wearing a hard hat on site.

"We want all our people to have the same safety sense when it comes to skin protection as they have for wearing hard hats and protective footwear,” he said.

"Construction workers who strip off under the sun and don’t use sunblock are exposing themselves to harmful ultraviolet radiation.’’

At the time some builders were unimpressed, with one moaning: "It’s rubbish. Are we expected to work in a three-piece suit?

"I can just see the hod carriers with a parasol over their shoulders rubbing in Ambre Solaire.’’

In 2015 French construction worker Adrien Herve-Pellissier, then 24, claimed he was about to eradicate the builder’s bum problem after inventing new boxer shorts.

"The underwear has a large elastic band on it, you see, so when you squat down we don't have to see your a**e," he said then.

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