Making your outdoor events SunSmart

SunSmart Outdoor Events

Schools and early childcare services are responsible for helping protect all children and staff from the harmful effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun. Outdoor events like school carnivals, sporting fixtures, excursions, assemblies and day trips can leave wonderful, lasting memories for students, children and staff – unless you’re left with a painful dose of sunburn! When planning any outdoor event, particularly if students, children and staff will spend extended periods outdoors during peak UV hours, it’s important to consider how everyone can be protected from the sun and stay safe.

Sunburn is caused by overexposure to UV radiation – listed as a Group 1 carcinogen by the World Health Organization. That means it’s known to cause cancer. It sounds scary, so to help reduce the risk of sunburn and future skin cancers, Cancer Council have put together a risk mitigation guide to help with your event planning.

Risk management involves pre-empting what could go wrong and considering what the potential consequences and outcomes could be. This risk management matrix describes potential and foreseeable risks, the potential impact these risks may have and some solutions.

Download our handy risk management matrix to support staff planning outdoor events.

SunSmart risk management matrix 

We have also included a range of strategies below to help ensure your planned outdoor event is protecting everyone from UV radiation.

Slipping and Slapping

• Covering clothing and hats offer the best protection from UV radiation. For any outdoor excursions or events, encourage students, children and staff to wear a broad-brimmed, legionnaire or bucket hat and sun protective clothing such as collared shirts, elbow or full-length sleeves, longer shorts, skirts or long pants.
• If the day out involves water activities, rashies should be worn – encourage longer sleeves, matched with boardies.
• For staff, brimmed hats are best. Ditch the baseball caps to ensure that areas vulnerable to skin cancers (like the back of the neck and ears) are protected.
• Don’t forget the sunnies!

Shade

• Scope out the details of the location of your outdoor excursion beforehand to consider shade needs and how existing shade can be utilised.
• If appropriate, consider providing temporary shade such as marquees, portable gazebos, or umbrellas if the existing shade is inadequate.

Keep an eye on UV

• When picking a date for an excursion or event, consider the amount of time that students and children will be outside and the forecast UV level. The maximum UV will be higher in terms one and four – around summer.
• UV levels peak during the middle of the day so try to schedule events to avoid this time. Consider offering shaded/indoor alternatives or hold twilight events in the evening.
• Remember that when the UV Index is 3 or above, it is high enough to cause skin damage, so sun protection is required. In Western Australia, this is every day of the year in most of the state.

Sunscreen

• Ensure that SPF50 or SPF50+ sunscreen is available and accessible to all students, children and staff.
• If your outdoor excursion or event is intended to last longer than 2 hours, don’t forget to make a ‘time to reapply sunscreen’ announcement or reminder.

Make it fun!

• Reward and encourage students and children for being SunSmart. Try special awards such as ‘Best Sunscreen Application’ or ‘Biggest Hat’.

To find out more information on schools’ duty of care requirements and best practice in sun safety, view our Sun Protection Guidelines or contact sunsmart@cancerwa.asn.au. We’ve also got some guides and resources to support outdoor community events.