Keeping cool...

As the longest day and summer solstice approaches, we seem to be leaving the rainy days behind for sunshine and blue skies ahead. Good news for garden picnics and beach days, but not always so for long days working out or in.

There are many recommendations from the HSE for how best to work in the heat, but there’s also no upper limit to the temperature in which we can work. It’s not a regular enough occurrence, but as we experience hotter and hotter summers it’s becoming ever more important for us to be aware of the conditions, our own health, and the health of those around us. Getting sunstroke or becoming dehydrated is too easy, and often goes unnoticed until we are too late.

Exposure to the sun is something that we experience many a British summer with red-tinged shoulders, but it’s also one that we are often far too casual about. The HSE highlights skin cancer as one of the most common forms of cancer, and nationally we see over 50,000 new cases a year. Not one to take lightly.

If your work keeps you outside for extended periods of time, you could be exposed to UV rays for far longer than is healthy. Take particular care if you are fair-skinned; freckled; have red hair or lighter eyes; or a larger number of moles.

Our top tips for protecting your skin:

• Ensure you use sunscreen liberally and cover up as much as possible.
• See if there is a way to introduce more shade to the area where you are working.
• Set up some kind of break area that is fully shaded.
• Take regular breaks out of the sun.

Here at G&A we have plenty of products to keep you safer in the warmer months, including Stokoderm sunscreen, shorts and moisture-wicking clothing.
Click here to view the full collection of summer workwear.