Temporary Cover-up of Your Tattoos

In the 15 years that I have been in law enforcement, I have watched 2 friends die of cancer and several others “survive” cancer. They all had a few things notability in common. They were all in their late 30’s to early 40’s and they were all in law enforcement.

By far, the biggest cancer threat to cops is skin cancer. Police work is an outdoor job. That’s one reason why we love it. But the more exposure to the sun we experience the greater the likelihood of contracting skin diseases such as cancer.

Skin cancer is so prevalent among law enforcement officers that in most states, it is listed as a presumptive condition for Workers Compensation. In California for example, Labor Code section 3212.1 covers the cancer presumption for all public safety workers: “The cancer so developing or manifesting itself…shall be presumed to arise out of and in the course of the employment”.

(click here to view the entire Labor Code section)

This holds true for Firefighters as well. In fact, according to a report issued by the National League of Cities in April 2009, “43 states have enacted laws which allow Firefighters and EMS providers who develop certain illnesses, injuries and diseases to qualify for Worker’s Compensation and certain other benefits under the presumption that the injuries, illnesses or diseases are work-related. Cancer is one of those diseases in 24 state presumption laws. 8 other states have pending cancer presumption laws. Presumption is a concept that assumes that certain injuries, illnesses and diseases are a consequence of work and are compensable without evidence provided by the employee that the affliction is work-related”.  Meaning, if a cop, firefighter or EMS worker is diagnosed with any form of skin cancer; the presumed cause is the working environment for insurance and workers comp purposes. That is amazing when you think about it. Of all the possible forms of disease and illness out there, very, very few have this presumptive status.

When I started Tatjacket, cancer prevention was the farthest thing from my mind. The original concept was a fast and easy way for employees to cover their tattoos in order to comply with grooming and uniform policies. But an interesting byproduct of the design and function of the tattoo cover up sleeve is its ability to protest the skin from the sun.

Fairly early on, we sent the tattoo cover up sleeves to the International UV Testing Laboratories in Auburn Alabama. They were tested and found to have a UPF rating of 50. The “UPF” rating is similar to an “SPF” rating found on a bottle of sunscreen.

This means public safety workers and anybody else working primarily outdoors can have substantial UV skin protection for their arms. This protection does not come with the discomfort or inconvenience of wearing a long sleeve shirt. Consider this, in many of the hotter jurisdictions such as Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas, many cops and public safety employees wear long sleeve shirts year round. Why would anybody wear a long sleeve uniform shirt when it is 112 degrees out? Because these employees know that protecting your arms and keeping the direct sun off of your skin actually feels better and decreases cancer risk.

Whether you have tattoos or not, Tatjacket tattoo cover up sleeves can help keep you comfortable and reduce your cancer risk from exposure to the sun.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 15th, 2009 at 12:46 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.