Toolstation has collaborated with Macmillan Cancer Support and launched its ‘Raise Your Skin Standards’ campaign that is designed to raise awareness of sun protection for tradespeople when working outdoors.
Toolstation’s campaign, developed by krow Group, features images of plaster cracking and flaking, alongside striking statistics of how tradespeople are affected by skin cancer.
The copy on the ad reads: “Cracking – you wouldn’t leave a site like this, so why let it happen to your skin? Stand up to skin cancer with sun protection on site”
The campaign will be shared across Toolstation’s social media channels in August and will be targeted at tradespeople, a statement said. It launched as research from Toolstation found that 24% of tradespeople never wear sunscreen when on the job, despite 68% always or often wearing it while on holiday.
The poll of tradespeople also found that 59% of customers who work in a trade had suffered from sunburn while working outside.
Half of trade customers who rarely or never wear sunscreen when working outside in the summer said they don’t wear protection because they forget or don’t think about, while 14% don’t think they need it. The same proportion, 14%, opt against wearing it because they believe it to be inconvenient.
Greg Richardson, head of marketing at Toolstation, said: “We know that tradespeople don’t have much time on their hands so prioritising suncare can be difficult but it’s really important that tradespeople are well informed about the implications of being burnt while working in the sun and the steps they can take to minimise that risk. We hope the campaign helps them overcome that risk and will make wearing sun cream when working outdoors as common as PPE.”
Rebecca Fanning, corporate partnerships manager at Macmillan Cancer Support, added: “We are pleased to be partner with Toolstation on their ‘Raise Your Skin Standards’ campaign, to help raise awareness of staying safe in the sun amongst Toolstation’s community.
“The stark statistic that tradespeople are 8x more likely to develop skin cancer is a reminder of the risks sun exposure can have on developing skin cancer and the importance of following skin protection advice and checking skin regularly. Working with valued partners like Toolstation, helps Macmillan to amplify this message and direct Toolstation’s community to Macmillan’s support services if they need more information.”