Aptly timed during skin cancer awareness month, National roofing merchant SIG Roofing has announced its support and partnership with SKCIN, a charity specialising in the prevention and early detection of skin cancer.
As we often experience many months of bad weather In the UK, we can too easily become complacent about using sun protection. Still, it’s a fact that skin cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, and the facts surrounding it are alarming. It is the UK’s fastest-rising cancer, and annually, there are over 230,000 cases of non-melanoma and 17,500 cases of melanoma (the deadliest form of skin cancer) diagnosed. It’s one of the biggest killing cancers in the 15-34 age group. Statistics also reveal that it is killing more people here than in Australia, which is known as the UV capital.
Up to 90% of skin cancers, however, are preventable by adopting simple sun-safe habits to your daily routine. Skin cancer is the only cancer we can physically see developing in its early stages, and if detected, diagnosed and treated early enough, almost all cases are curable. So learning about the risks associated with UV exposure, how to prevent skin cancer and how to spot early signs and symptoms are critical. It is this awareness and education, particularly in men and particularly in jobs exposed to regular sunlight, that made it a perfect charity partnership for SIG Roofing.
“When we saw that SKCIN was launching a sun-safe workplace accreditation programme for employers of outdoor workers, there was no hesitation that we would look to implement this for our colleagues as some of the facts exposed are shocking. Solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is responsible for a staggering 90% of all skin cancer cases, which places outdoor workers in one of the highest-risk groups for developing the disease. The predominance of males across the UK outdoor workforce is another concern as statistics reveal that the incidence of skin cancer is growing at twice the rate in men than women, and men are 69% more likely to die from the disease.
SIG Roofing employs staff that work outdoors in our yards all day across our 107 branches nationwide, and they engage daily with roofers, largely males, who spend long periods of time exposed to UV.
SIG Roofing has therefore signed up for this charity partnership to raise awareness through education at scale through our branch network. We will be encouraging our colleagues in branch to take part in the training on sun-safe practices, as well as how to recognise the early signs of skin cancer and the importance of conducting regular self-examinations. We are installing sunscreen stations that dispense SPF30+ sunscreen in all branches, free for colleagues and customers. We hope that cumulatively all these initiatives will help make a difference.”
Kathryn Clifford, Co-Founder of SKCIN, responded:
“We are delighted that a national business like SIG Roofing is one of the first to sign up to our new ‘Sun Safe Workplaces National Accreditation Programme’ https://www.sunsafeworkplaces.co.uk/. The business engages daily with hundreds of higher-risk roofers, largely male, with whom they can share knowledge. We are looking forward to seeing the rollout of sunscreen stations across their branches and delivering the vital training to their employees over the coming weeks.”
SKCIN is a national charity specialising in the prevention and early detection of skin cancer through educational intervention. Their wealth of knowledge and expertise spans 18 years, providing a wide range of bespoke, nationally accessible solutions for key ‘high risk’ and ‘influential’ sectors. Outdoor workers are a high-risk group that SIG Roofing engages with each day, so this partnership with SKCIN will enable this messaging to reach many more people who may be affected by this awful disease.
