Outdoor Worker UV Risk Assessment Template

Step 1 — Identify the hazard

Solar ultraviolet radiation is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a Group 1 (carcinogenic to humans) agent.

Outdoor workers can accumulate substantially more solar UV exposure across a working year than indoor workers, because exposure is repeated, prolonged and often occurs around the middle of the day.

Record solar UV as a named hazard in your risk register, separate from heat stress. The two often occur together but need different controls.

Step 2 — Identify who is exposed

• List every role with regular outdoor work, including part-time, seasonal, agency and contractor staff.
• Note roles that work at fixed times which fall inside the peak UV window.
• Flag workers who may be at higher risk: fair skin, many moles, personal or family history of skin cancer, immunosuppression, or use of photosensitising medicines. Record this at role level, not by naming individuals, unless the worker has consented.
• Include lone workers and mobile workers who may be away from site shade.

Step 3 — Quantify the exposure

• Average hours outdoors per shift, and how many of those fall between 11:00 and 15:00.
• Number of outdoor working days per year, and the months with the highest local UV Index.
• Typical UV Index range at your locations during those months.
• Reflective surfaces present: water, snow, sand, glass, concrete, metal roofing.
• Altitude and latitude of the work locations.
• Whether the exposure is continuous or broken by indoor or shaded periods.

Step 4 — Record existing controls

• Is the UV Index checked and communicated daily?
• Is shade available at break points, and at the work area during high UV?
• Are long-sleeve options — including high-visibility versions — actually available in the right sizes?
• Do hats or hard-hat attachments cover the ears and the back of the neck?
• Is UV-rated eye protection available where the task allows it?
• Is broad-spectrum SPF 30+ sunscreen stocked, in date and accessible?
• Has sun-safety training been delivered this season, and to whom?
• Is there a confidential route for a worker to raise a skin concern?

Step 5 — Rate the risk

Use your existing organisational risk matrix rather than inventing a new one. A common approach multiplies likelihood of significant exposure by severity of harm, then compares the score before and after the planned controls.

• Low: brief outdoor exposure, mostly outside the peak window, effective shade and clothing already in place.
• Medium: regular outdoor work with partial controls, or seasonal work with high UV for part of the year.
• High: prolonged daily exposure through the peak window, limited shade, or reflective surfaces with incomplete cover-up.
• Record the residual rating after controls, not just the initial rating.

Step 6 — Apply the hierarchy of controls

• Eliminate or substitute: move the task indoors, under cover, or outside the peak UV window.
• Engineering: fixed canopies, portable shade, vehicle and cab shading.
• Administrative: rotation, break scheduling, daily UV briefings, signage and training.
• PPE and clothing: long sleeves, brim or neck flap, UV-rated eyewear.
• Sunscreen: broad-spectrum SPF 30+ on skin that cannot be covered.
• In many jurisdictions, general health-and-safety duties require employers to assess and, so far as is reasonably practicable, control foreseeable workplace hazards — and regulators including the UK HSE and Australian work-health-and-safety bodies treat solar UV exposure for outdoor workers as such a hazard.

Step 7 — Record the action plan

• Action, owner, target date and completion date for each gap.
• Budget items such as shade structures, clothing and sunscreen stock.
• The date the controls were communicated to workers.
• Evidence: photographs of installed shade, stock records, training registers.

Step 8 — Review

• Review at least annually, and before the start of each higher-UV season.
• Review after any sunburn incident, near-miss or worker complaint.
• Review when a new site, task, shift pattern or contractor is introduced.
• Record who reviewed it, when, and what changed.

Worked example

Role

Roofing operative

Outdoor hours per shift

7 of 8, with 3 inside the 11:00–15:00 window

Season

April to September, local UV Index typically 5–8

Reflective surfaces

Metal roofing and glazing — increased effective exposure

Existing controls

Sunscreen in the van, no site shade, short-sleeve high-visibility vests, standard hard hats

Initial rating

High — prolonged peak-window exposure with incomplete cover-up

Actions

Portable gazebo at the welfare point; long-sleeve high-visibility shirts; hard-hat neck flaps; daily UV announcement; sunscreen moved to a fixed accessible point

Residual rating

Medium — exposure remains, but scheduling, shade and cover-up controls are in place

Review

Before the next season, and after any burn incident