Barbara Walkosz*, Klein Buendel, Golden, United States David Buller, Klein Buendel, Golden, United States Mary Buller, Klein Buendel, Golden, United States Track: Practice Presentation Topic: Persuasive communication and technology Presentation Type: Poster presentation Submission Type: Single Presentation Last modified: 2012-09-12

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Workers in the U.S. spend large amounts of time on the job, making the workplace a key venue for preventive health programs. Sun exposure is a significant workplace risk for 8% of the U.S. workforce (over 9 million workers) who work outdoors, because exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is the primary cause of skin cancer. In 2011, over 2 million cases of non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) and 70,230 cases of melanoma were diagnosed. Despite recent prevention efforts, many individuals, particularly outdoor workers, do not take adequate precautions to protect themselves from harmful UVR. Policy development in all sectors, including workplaces, has demonstrated improvement in health outcomes such as increasing physical activity or reducing tobacco use. Policy approaches can set organizational and individual agendas for prevention, and integrate health programs into organizational operations. Our research team is currently implementing Sun Safe Workplaces, a program sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, to promote sun protection policies to cities, counties and special districts in Colorado. We are working with three sectors within public organizations: Public Works (roads/bridges), Public Safety (police/fire fighters), and Recreation Programs. Responsible parties for policy development in these sectors include risk and safety managers, safety committees, Fire/Battalion Chiefs, and wellness and human resources mangers.
Web 2.0 provides a dynamic and interactive space for information sharing and collaboration in a wide range of health contexts including health promotion. To facilitate the creation, adoption and implementation of sun safety policy, we have created a website that hosts a set of online tools. Underpinned by Diffusion of Innovation Theory, the overall goals of the website are to increase the perceived need for sun protection, highlight compatibility of policies with workplace risk management, provide resources and strategies to overcome barriers to implementation, and reinforce adoption. The website contains information on the importance of skin cancer prevention, a step-by-step guide for creating and implementing workplace sun protection policies, interactive tools to assess worksite UV-related risks and existing sun safety policies, a policy writing tool, and Internet sun safety resources.
A key feature of our website is an online policy-writing tool that provides assistance in the development and drafting of sun safety policy. This unique interactive feature contains 11 components that address specific aspects of a comprehensive policy including: a introductory statement citing CDC and OSHA recommendations, hats and protective clothing, sunscreen, lip balm, eye protection, shade, scheduling, training, family communication, health service (skin screening), and evaluation and implementation. Worksites can select from among the 11 specific sun safety recommendations, determine the wording strength (allowed, required, recommended) of each policy component, edit the policy to fit the workplace’s needs, and save edits for each component. The interactive tool also assembles and saves the policy into one document. The initial response to the tool by managers has been positive. We believe the Web 2.0 features are likely to assist in our appeals to create policy because the policy-writing tool allows managers to give input, tailor policy to the organization and take ownership of the policy.