Nick,

I'd be inclined to say it's nothing to do with H&S, public health perhaps but nothing to do with a workplace or work (save what semantics can do to make a connection).

I have lots of thoughts, most of which would result in the moderators almost certainly blocking my posting!

I suggest you take a look at the charity on this at www.skcin.org. Go to the section on sunbed facts and you will find all the information you need.

Chris

When I was employed in the HE sector, before I retired, there were a number of sunbeds installed in our Sports Centre and Hotel.

When the issue of over exposure and the harmful effects were established well over 12 years ago we did introduce a sign up procedure for the use of sunbeds. We followed the guidance give in INDG209 which was first published in 2000. This has now been revised several times.

The users were given an information leaflet and then required to sign in when they booked a session using the sun beds and were only permitted as set number of sessions.

Over reaction some might think, but after attending a number of scientific seminars covering the use of sunbeds, myself and my colleagues were entirely happy with the decisions we had made.

As the sunbeds came to the end of the useful life or required a bulb change they were not replaced.

My own personal option is that the use of sunbeds should be banned other for medical purposes .

Who after all would now condone some of the radiation treatments which could be purchased by the public in the early 1900’s

I agree with you john, unfortunately it isn't my decision to make. I suffer from melanoma myself after being badly burnt when I was 8 years old back in the 70's. I would never think of using one myself.

The CIEH published a copy of a speech about skin cancer and sunbeds earlier this week:

http://www.cieh.org/Work...howcontent.aspx?id=41548

With regards to limiting the number of minutes on the sunbed, would this really be effective or would members of staff / the public simply go around the corner to TanTastic sunbed shop instead, whilst this clearly would not be your problem in terms of being held liable, from a wider public health point of view it is just moving the problem rather than solving it. I agree with the other posters that the provision of information and education allowing them to be made aware of the risks, helping them make an informed choice, is the best route to address the issue (well, legislation banning sunbeds is the best route, but that's not an option available to you!).

You probably need to decide why this has been raised as an issue, is it purely for being held liable, etc. or does it fit into a wider Corporate Social Responsibility / public health initiative?

Additionally and, somewhat more to the point of the post, I agree with Chris above that there is a limit to how far your liability can extend.

I think if you were actively encouraging people to use the sunbed and failing to provide appropriate warnings etc. then you'd be on shaky ground but otherwise the sensible approaches described above seem quite reasonable. That's my two pennies worth.

Thanks to you all for your input it has been very useful.

Just for your information a LA EHO was asking a sister site of mine how they manage the number of visits/time that persons use our machine to be tanned.

Thanks again to you all for your help.