How To Keep Crews Safe from the Sun

June is upon us and the sun's strength is growing. As we see and feel the warm rays, be conscious of the dangers that can come from overexposure. This Total Landscape Care article not only informs on melanoma but also gives advice for preventative measures to help ensure the safety of you and your team during the summer months. 

Total Landscape Care

As the landscaping season rolls on, the workload isn’t the only thing that increases.
The amount of hours landscapers and crews put into a day extends throughout the hotter months, but with longer hours comes the inevitable exposure to UV rays.

Time and time again the topic of sun exposure is addressed in landscaping businesses nationwide, but the question is, how much of that discussion is put into practice out in the field?

The Breakdown
According to a recent article from the Skin Cancer Foundation, in the past two decades, there has been a 20 percent increase in the number Hispanics with an incidence of melanoma.

The Department of Labor states that Latinos account for almost one in four workers in the construction industry. Additionally, there are more than 500,000 Hispanic workers in the landscape industry in the United States, according to the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

In 2014 alone, the American Cancer Society estimates approximately 76,100 individual will be diagnosed with melanoma (43,980 in men and 32,210 in women). The organization estimates approximately 9,710 people are expected to die of melanoma (6,470 men and 3,240 women). The Skin Care Foundation reports one person dies of melanoma every hour.

“Overall, the lifetime risk of getting melanoma is about 2 percent (1 in 50) for whites, 0.1 percent (1 in 1,000) for blacks, and 0.5 percent (1 in 200) for Hispanics,” the American Cancer Society states.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has provided a way for individuals to learn about specific skin cancer statistics for every state in the U.S.

What is melanoma?
There are different varieties of skin cancer, and not all of them are as dangerous as the infamous melanoma.

For instance, basal and squamous cell skin cancers are called non-melanomas, which are found on the outer layer of the skin.

To read the full article, follow this link.