Objective: To assess the impact of Telecom's "Cover yourself against skin cancer" campaign, which used marketing techniques to promote sun protection behaviour.
Method: Quasi-experimental design assessing change from before to after the campaign in intervention versus control groups. The unit of observation was a team of lines staff. Use of hats, shirts and shade were observed and prevailing weather conditions were noted. The major results are based on 525 observations before the campaign and 460 after it.
Results: The campaign led to a significant improvement in shirt use (P = 0.02), and to an improvement in overall protection (P = 0.02). The campaign had no effect on hat use, or on use of shade.
Conclusions: The "Cover yourself against skin cancer" campaign was demonstrated to be an effective tool for getting outdoor staff to increase their sun protection. The implications for health and safety education are discussed.