If you’re an employer whose business includes outdoor work, then you should be encouraging your employees to get skin checks.

As an employer why should you do this?

While there is no explicit requirement to provide a skin cancer check to your workers, Safe Work NSW has a blog with tips on being skin cancer aware and it has a focus on self-management of risk and self-checks of skin:

https://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/resource-library/blogs/blogs-accordions/keep-it-cool-this-summer

https://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/news/safework-media-releases/stay-safe-in-the-heat-top-tips-for-workers-and-bosses

However, employers or businesses or people who conduct a business do have a legal obligation under work health and safety laws to:

1. identify hazards in the workplace
2. assess the risk those hazards create
3. then eliminate or minimize them as much as possible.

If you are an employer who requires employees to work outdoors then skin cancer is an obvious risk. Whilst assessing and minimising that risk can be done by adopting strategies around time of work, sun protective clothing, sunscreen etc, monitoring is best done via a skin cancer check.

Our experience is that leaving skin cancer checks up to the individual is high risk as many individuals do not follow these checks up until a problem becomes evident.

Employers can arrange and implement these skin cancer checks relatively easily and cost effectively – especially when balanced against the cost of workers compensation premiums and cases.

Kildare Road Medical Centre has a strong corporate health service. If you would like to get in touch with our corporate health team then please visit the link below.

Kildare Road Medical Centre Corporate Health:

https://kildaremedical.com.au/health-in-the-workplace-2/

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