Summer is fast approaching, the days are becoming warmer and the UV index is increasing. It's easy to slip into a more relaxed approach to sun safety over the cooler months of winter, which makes NOW the perfect time to review your sun protection policies and remind all staff about the importance of staying up-to-date on service policies and encouraging them to enforce those standards.
Australia has the highest incidence on skin cancer in the world and overexposure to the sun in childhood is known to be a major cause of skin cancer in later life. With this in mind early childhood education and care providers are required to have a sun protection policy in place and to enforce that policy to comply with the requirements set by the National Quality Standard.
The SunSmart Early Childhood Program was set up by the state based Cancer Councils to help early childhood education and care providers develop, implement and maintain sun safe policies specific to the unique early childhood setting.
The program can also help early childhood providers bring out-of-date sun protection policies up-to-date and in line with current recommendations and thinking.
The SunSmart Program was designed for all early childhood settings including family day carers, long day care centres, occasional care centres, preschools, work based services and mobile services and hundreds of providers across the country have already signed up.
According to the Cancer Council a sun protection policy should clearly outline a service's policies and procedures with regard to protecting children and staff at the centre from UV radiation including:
- Minimising outdoor play during peak UV periods.
- Using shade for outdoor play
- Use of sun safe hats and
- Use of protective clothing
- Use of sun screen
- Keeping babies under 12 months out of direct sunlight entirely
- Education about sun protection
- Role modelling so staff are a positive influence on children
- Education and information so children and families understand the rationale behind the policy
- Ensuring the policy is regularly updated and made available to staff and families
- Regularly reviewing the policy to ensure it is in line with best practice
As with all policy and procedure documents a sun protection policy should be written in straightforward language and made available for parents and visitors to the centre to review.
The Cancer Council identifies the five main ways to protect children and staff from the effects of the sun as follows:
1. Minimise the time spent outdoors during peak UV periods
From October to March outdoor activity should be minimised between 11am and 3pm and protective clothing, hats and sunscreen should be used at all times when staff and children are outside.
From April to September outdoor activity can take place at any time during the day and protective clothing, hats and sunscreen are required between 10am and 2pm except in June and July when UV radiation tends to be lower. Please note there are some exceptions to this rule depending on which part of the country your service is located. Contact your local Cancer Council for more information.
2. Use shade for outdoor play
The service should provide and maintain adequate shade structures and all outdoor activities should be planned in shaded areas. Activities should move as the shade moves throughout the yard. Staying in the shade is one of the most effective ways to reduce sun exposure because it blocks or filters UV rays. However, shade doesn't guarantee total protection so hats, protective clothing and sunscreen should still be used when children are playing outside.
3. Use the right hat
Well designed hats with broad brims which extend all the way around can significantly reduce UV exposure to the face, neck, ears and head. SunSmart recommended hats for children include: Broad-brimmed hats with a brim size of at least 6cm
- Bucket style hats with a brim size of at least 5cm and a deep crown
- Legionnaire hats
Recommended hats for adults are:
- Broad-brimmed hats with a brim size of at least 7.5cm
- Bucket style hats with a brim size of at least 6cm and a deep crown
- Legionnaire hats
Remember, baseball caps and sun visors are not recommended as they don't protect the neck, ears and cheeks.
Children without a sun safe hat are required to play in an area completely protected from the sun for example under shade or indoors. If compliance with hat regulations is a problem in your service, consider providing a hat on registration and asking families to leave it at the service.
4. Wear protective clothing
Clothing reduces the skin's exposure to UV radiation by creating a barrier to the skin. For the best UV protection staff and children in early childhood services should cover as much skin as possible, especially the shoulders and back.
Recommended clothes include: loose fitting shirts or dresses with collars and sleeves, trousers, long skirts and shorts. Again children without appropriate clothing should be required to play in the shade or indoors.
5. Apply SPF30+ broad spectrum sun screen before going outside
Sunscreen protects exposed skin and should be applied 20 minutes before staff and children go outside and every two hours after the first application.
Centres should use a sunscreen that:
- Has a sun protection factor of 30+, this is the highest available in Australia.
- Is water resistant and broad spectrum. Broad spectrum sun screens block out both UVA and UVB rays both of which contribute to sunburn, premature skin aging and cancer.
- Sunscreens do not block 100 per cent of UV rays and should be used in conjunction with clothing, hats, sunglasses and shade.
- Hasn't passed its use by date.
6. Keep babies out of the sun
Babies under 12 months should not be exposed to any direct sunlight and if they are outside should be in full shade and wearing sun-safe hats, clothing and sun screen appropriate for their age.
7. Staff should be role models
Staff and educators must be role models for children in a service and wear sun safe clothing and hats including sunglasses. They should also seek the shade while outside in the hottest part of the day and remind visitors and family to stay sun-safe while at the service.
8. Education
Early childhood services have an important opportunity to educate children about the importance of being sun safe and to incorporate this information into their learning programs. Early childhood settings can also undertake community outreach to ensure families and carers are enforcing sun-safe practices at home and to improve consistency in routines for children.
9. Policy availability
Changes to the sun-safe policy need to be communicated clearly so families and staff and children are all aware when any changes occur. The policy needs to be easily accessible and easy to understand.
10. Leadership
The managers of early childhood services need to conduct regular monitoring and reviews of their sun-safe practices to ensure they are practical and effective and being enforced across the service. Services wanting to stay in the Cancer Council's SunSmart program need to review and resubmit their sun-safety policy every two years.
For additional information on how to ensure your staff and children are safe in the sun, including template sun protection policies and teaching resources visit the SunSmart website in your state:
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