UV at Work: It's Not Just a Beach Problem

When most people think about UV protection at work, they think about suncream.

And yes — suncream matters. We have already talked about that. But UV radiation at work is a much bigger and more complex topic than what you put on your skin before starting a shift.

Because UV doesn't only come from the sun. And it doesn't only affect skin.

Two Very Different Sources of UV

UV radiation in occupational settings comes from two distinct sources, and they require completely different protective approaches.

Natural UV — solar radiation

This is what outdoor workers are exposed to. Construction workers, agricultural workers, road crews, groundskeepers, lifeguards, and many others spend significant portions of their working day in direct or diffuse sunlight.

Critically, solar UV is not only a summer problem. UV intensity is highest between 10am and 4pm. Cloud cover reduces but does not eliminate UV exposure. Reflective surfaces — water, snow, concrete, sand, glass — can significantly increase exposure by bouncing radiation upward and sideways. A roofer in March on a clear day is receiving meaningful UV exposure.

Artificial UV — occupational sources

This is the category that genuinely surprises people.

Many industrial and technical processes produce ultraviolet radiation as a by-product or as a primary output. These include:

Welding arcs — produce intense UV, visible light, and infrared simultaneously. Arc eye (photokeratitis) is a painful and unfortunately common injury. Bystanders as well as welders are at risk.
UV curing lamps — used in printing, coating, adhesives, and dental applications
Germicidal UV lamps — used for disinfection in healthcare, food production, water treatment
Plasma cutting
Certain laboratory equipment
Black lights used in quality inspection

Workers near these sources may not be the ones directly operating the equipment. The maintenance technician walking past the UV curing station. The cleaner entering a room after UV disinfection. The colleague two metres from the welding bay.

UV exposure is not always obvious. It is not always accompanied by heat. And it does not require direct line-of-sight in all cases.

What UV Actually Does to the Body

UV radiation exists in three bands: UVA (315–400nm), UVB (280–315nm), and UVC (100–280nm).

Natural solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface is mostly UVA with some UVB — UVC is almost entirely absorbed by the atmosphere. Artificial sources can produce all three, including UVC, which is both highly effective for disinfection and highly damaging to biological tissue.

Effects on skin:

Acute: erythema (sunburn), even from short intense exposures
Chronic: premature ageing of skin, actinic keratoses, and significantly increased risk of skin cancers — including melanoma, which is one of the most serious cancers in terms of metastatic risk
Outdoor workers have substantially elevated lifetime UV exposure compared to indoor workers, and the occupational contribution to skin cancer risk is a significant and under-recognised public health issue

Effects on eyes:

Acute: photokeratitis (arc eye or snow blindness) — painful inflammation of the cornea that can temporarily impair vision. Symptoms often appear hours after exposure.
Chronic: cataracts, macular degeneration, and pterygium — a growth on the white of the eye that can affect vision
Unlike skin damage, eye damage from UV is cumulative and the eye has no effective natural defence against UV — squinting reduces but does not eliminate exposure

PPE for UV: It's More Than Suncream

Protecting workers from UV requires thinking in layers — literally.

Protective clothing

Not all clothing is created equal when it comes to UV protection. The relevant measure is UPF (Ultraviolet Protection Factor) — the fabric equivalent of SPF for skin.

Loose weave, wet fabric, and lighter colours all reduce UV protection. A white cotton t-shirt in average condition has a UPF of around 5–10. A properly rated UPF 50+ garment blocks over 98% of UV.

For outdoor workers with prolonged exposure, workwear with a certified UPF rating is protective clothing — not a lifestyle product. Long sleeves and collar coverage matter. For artificial UV sources, specific arc-flash and welding-rated garments provide protection not available from regular workwear.

Eye protection

This is where it gets detailed and important.

For solar UV, standard clear safety spectacles do not automatically provide UV protection. Check the lens specification. EN ISO 16321 (the new eye protection standard) includes updated UV filter categories and marking requirements. Lenses should be marked to indicate their UV transmission — look for UV 400 protection (blocking UV up to 400nm) for outdoor work.

For welding, the protection requirements are far more stringent. Welding shields and goggles are rated by shade number — the higher the shade, the less light (including UV and IR) that passes through. The correct shade depends on the welding process and current level. Using the wrong shade is not a minor issue: arc flash at the wrong protection level causes serious eye injury.

For UV curing and disinfection applications, standard eye protection is not sufficient. Polycarbonate lenses block most UV but the level of protection depends on the lens specification and the intensity of the source. Always check the specific requirements for the UV source in question.

Barriers and engineering controls

As always: PPE is the last resort, not the first. UV welding curtains to protect bystanders. Physical barriers around UV curing equipment. Interlocks that prevent access during germicidal lamp operation. Scheduling outdoor work around peak UV hours where possible.

PPE fills the gap that engineering controls cannot close.

The Invisible Hazard Problem

UV is invisible. You cannot feel it in the way you feel heat. By the time you notice the damage — the gritty, painful eyes, the burned skin, the slow progression of chronic effects — the exposure has already happened.

This is exactly the kind of hazard where the psychology of risk perception works against workers. If you can't perceive it happening, it is very hard to consistently behave as if it is a real threat.

This is why education matters as much as PPE. Workers who understand that the UV curing lamp is causing real, cumulative damage to their eyes every time they look near it without protection — even briefly — make different decisions than workers who have been told "don't look at it."

Explain the mechanism. Make the invisible visible. The behaviour follows.

Final Thought

Suncream is part of the UV protection story. An important part.

But outdoor workers also need UPF-rated clothing and UV-filtering eye protection. Workers near welding, UV curing, and disinfection equipment need task-specific PPE that many workplaces haven't properly assessed.

And all of them need to understand why — because UV damage is cumulative, invisible, and mostly irreversible.

Protect the skin. Protect the eyes. And don't assume that because nobody is complaining, nobody is being harmed.

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