Safe Fun in the Sun

Sun safety is a habit that pays “healthy” dividends for employees — even in off hours and on vacation! Getting a sunburn is serious business; health experts say, at the worst, just five bad (blistering) sunburns increase the chances of skin cancer by 80 percent. Sun exposure is especially tricky for park district workers who are often in the sun for long periods.

Since you can get sunburned even on a cloudy day, and lifeguards also deal with light reflected off the water they’re scanning, an excellent safety habit is to keep applying sunscreen — and apply it properly. 

Dundee Township Park District has made it easier for lifeguards to be on top of sun safety when they’re on the job. The agency’s two-pronged approach earned it two Risk Management Grant and Recognition awards in recent years. “Our grant proposals solved sun safety issues,” explains Christine Hermans, Safety and Training Coordinator, “by offering an obvious way to remind lifeguards to reapply sunscreen when needed and easily access sunscreen from multiple locations.”

That's How to Keep Burning at Bay

The agency used the SpotMyUV product for lifeguard and pool staff. The small purple dot, placed on the skin where the sun will hit it, becomes clear when an employee applies sunscreen. When the purple dot reappears — usually a few hours later — you need to reapply sunscreen.

Easy Access to Sun Care

The second solution is simplicity itself. The agency places sunscreen dispensers at stations throughout its aquatic area for all employees. Easy access allows for reapplication without having to search for a tube of it or remembering where you last left it. “The dispensers are a great addition,” Hermans notes. “Staff doesn’t need to bring their own, it saves them money and eliminates worrying about whether or not they forgot it.”

Training Is Key

Hermans advises fellow PDRMA members that sun safety is an ongoing process — and training is vital. “We train all our aquatics staff about the importance of using sunscreen and show them where to find the sunscreen dispensers,” Hermans says. “We make sure everyone knows that if their position is outside, sunscreen is a PPE requirement of the position.”

Hermans encourages agencies to include sunscreen in their procedures for outside job tasks and make it a requirement of staff to meet it. “Remind them that their safety is more important than anything,” she urges. “Using sunscreen should be the first thing they do before stepping outside.”

This should be the case even for quick, outside tasks, she stresses, as misjudging the time needed to complete them is a hazard. “Not putting on sunscreen because you don’t expect to be outside for very long — but end up spending hours completing a task — is a perfect example of how easy it is to overlook sun protection.”

Severe sunburn can also contribute to heat-related illnesses, dizziness, dehydration and heat stroke. Losing time away from work because of sunburn is not something people think about, but it does happen.

Sun Safety Tips

Hermans offers her best practices to help keep staff safe in the sun.  

• Talk about the importance of this at every meeting with staff, in training and during daily recaps. Teach them about the repercussions sunburn can have over time: cancer/melanoma, aged and sun-spotted skin, sunburned skin allowing blood-borne pathogens to enter the body and cause other illnesses.
• Use signage to remind staff in pool areas and golf maintenance areas to use sunscreen. Camp staff are on a schedule to apply sunscreen on their kids, but the challenge is to make certain the counselors apply it on themselves as well. They often overlook this as they’re busy with the kids. Talking about this on a daily basis before camps leave their respective locations should be part of your procedures.

Be Sunscreen Savvy

• There’s more to applying sunscreen than just putting a dab or two on arms and legs.   For best protection, choose a sunscreen with a minimum of SPF15 to protect against UVB rays and choose one that contains Mexoryl, Parsol 1789, titanium dioxide, zinc oxide or avobenzone to protect against UVA rays.
• Check the expiration date; toss any older than a year.