Builders to get warnings about sun-exposure via text

Builders could soon receive personalised sun-exposure text message warnings direct to their smartphones as part of a new project by Heriot-Watt University.

Construction companies including BAM Nuttall, Laing O’Rourke and Bovis Homes are working with researchers at the University’s School of Life Sciences and the Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) to change the behaviour of construction workers, minimising the risk of skin cancer and maximising the health benefits of the ‘sunshine vitamin’,D.

The project, commissioned by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), aims to reduce workers’ exposure to UV radiation among those at risk, or increase exposure and encourage dietary changes among those who may not get enough sunshine to synthesise vitamin D.

Speaking about the project, Professor John Cherrie, said, “It is vital that construction workers get the right amount of sun and of vitamin D, without getting sunburned, which increases their risk of developing skin cancer.”