Health and Safety
Executive / Commission
Radiation
The Control of Artificial Optical Radiation at Work Regulations came into force on 27 April 2010 and aim to protect workers from the risks to health from hazardous sources of artificial optical radiation (AOR).
Workers in Great Britain are generally well protected from AOR and the majority of businesses with hazardous sources know how to manage the risks effectively. Further work is only expected to be undertaken by those businesses that use hazardous sources of AOR and where the associated AOR risks have not already been reduced to as low as is reasonably practicable.
We have produced guidance to help dutyholders decide whether they are already protecting their workers or whether they need to do more under the new regulations.
If you require more detailed guidance, the European Commission will publish guidance later this year and a near final draft is available:
In addition to promoting information about the hazards of undue exposure to the sun for those people who work outdoors, we are also involved in a much broader public health campaign called SunSmart. Our role is to provide input to target those people who spend most of their time working outside. More information about the campaign can be found on the Cancer Research website in the pages about cancer/reducing risk.
There is no legal obligation for employers to provide sun cream or sunglasses for outdoor workers. The information in HSE’s leaflets encourages employers of outdoor workers to include sun protection advice in routine health and safety training and advises workers to keep covered up during the summer months.