Cutting the cancer risk - 01.09.05

contractjournal.com Newsletter - 01.09..05

Cutting cancer risks

A new cancer liability directive looks likely to change the way the way construction views the deadly disease in the future. But On-line news editor Tim Wood argues one underlying element has been lost in the debate - the safety of the workers themselves.

Changes in EU legislation are set to make building bosses liable for all skin cancers suffered by their workers no matter what their cause - a move that, understandably, has not been very well received by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).

It's easy to see why - an FMB report has already condemned the "over-regulating" of the proposed EU Optical Radiation Directive, which would leave employers liable for skin cancers even though the cancer may not be caused by occupational exposure to the sun. 

Andrew Large, FMB director of external affairs, believes that despite the best intentions of the EU, the directive is totally unenforceable. 

"The proposed requirement for employers to regulate their workers' exposure to sunlight is completely impractical. Requiring them to do so would not only cause great difficulty to tens of thousands of construction businesses in the UK, it would also make them liable for something over which they have little control," he adds.

CJ applauds the FMB for speaking out and raising awareness about the devastating effects the sun can have on the human body.

Yes there would be diifficulties for business, but that issue pales into insignificance when compared with the suffering to human beings.

Skin cancer is the second most common cancer in the UK, with about 40,500 new cases each year. Some 6,000 are malignant melanomas and 1,500 people die from melanomas in Britain every year.

You could argue about who is liable for the skin cancers suffered by workers until you are blue in the face.

But the most important issue is getting the message across about the dangers and ramming them home.

There are enough avoidable deaths in construction - communication is the key to ensuring that workers who want to enjoy the sun on their bare backs don't add to that horrific figure.