Sun exposure injury: NSW workers compensation guide

Outdoor hours by season, time of day and years of work. Shade, task location, reflected UV and vehicle or cab exposure. The task history should quantify force, weight, repetition, duration, posture or exposure rather than rely on a label such as “overuse”.

Construction, road, utility and council outdoor workers. Farm, landscaping, marine and recreation workers. Rosters and role records can identify who performed or observed the same work cycle.

Skin condition. Occupational cancer. A symptom label does not replace a diagnosis or a reasoned opinion linking that diagnosis to the measured work history.

Employment, roster and outdoor-task history across years. Site, route and task records establishing time outdoors. Early records should show when symptoms began, changed and were reported, even where there was no single accident date.

• UV policy, PPE issue, shade and sunscreen records.

Employment, roster and outdoor-task history across years. Site, route and task records establishing time outdoors. The strongest task history connects objective work records with the symptom and treatment chronology.

• UV policy, PPE issue, shade and sunscreen records.
• Dermatology, pathology or ophthalmology records and non-work sun history.

Specific skin or eye diagnosis and anatomical site. Specialist opinion considering occupational and non-occupational lifetime exposure. Medical causation evidence should address the diagnosis, measured work exposure, pre-existing conditions and relevant non-work factors.

• Treatment, recurrence, scarring and functional consequences documented.

Occupational exposure was limited or well controlled. Recreational exposure, skin type or other factors better explain the condition. The insurer’s written reasons should be answered with evidence directed to the actual causation or eligibility issue.

Treatment depends on the diagnosed skin or eye condition and specialist advice. Future monitoring may be important clinically but does not itself establish compensation entitlement. Treatment and restrictions should be tied to the accepted diagnosis and the work factor that needs to be reduced or avoided.

Restrictions may address direct sun, time of day, protective clothing and heat interaction. Suitable duties should identify whether meaningful shade or indoor work is actually available. Sustainable capacity depends on the complete shift and repeated exposure, not whether one movement can be demonstrated once.

UV exposure does not carry a WPI percentage. Any stable skin, scar, eye or other impairment uses its relevant NSW method. The assessment must follow the method for the accepted diagnosis, such as Skin condition, Occupational cancer, Eye injury. WPI is assessed after stabilisation using the NSW method for the accepted diagnosis; exposure duration or pain alone does not set a percentage.

Some occupational cancer or disease pathways require specialist advice and should not be assumed from the general accident route. Any SafeWork NSW, product, negligence or insurance issue must be investigated under its own rules; it does not replace proof of the workers compensation claim. Any other compensation or insurance pathway remains separate and has its own eligibility rules.

Build a dated work history using measurable facts such as outdoor hours by season, time of day and years of work; shade, task location, reflected UV and vehicle or cab exposure. Match the diagnosed condition and symptom chronology to workplace records, prior history and relevant non-work factors. The purpose is to match the disputed decision to reliable work and medical evidence, not to promise an outcome.