Occupational sun exposure causes about one in 50 cutaneous malignant melanomas, equivalent to approximately one death from, and five new cases of, the cancer each week in Britain, new figures suggest.

It is estimated that occupational sun exposure caused 241 cutaneous malignant melanomas (2 per cent of the total) in 2011 and 48 deaths in 2012. The average years of life lost through early death from cutaneous malignant melanoma is estimated at approximately 17 years.

The construction industry has the largest burden (44 per cent of deaths and 42 per cent of registrations), followed by agriculture, public administration and defence, and land transport.

^{(Br J Cancer doi: 10.1038/bjc. 2016.437)}