Best Practice: Infection Control – Beauty & Hair Salons

Whatever the type of business you are running, every workplace must be a hygienic environment. This is particularly important in an establishment that has so many different people passing through it every day, such as salons.

To be a successful and responsible salon, it is imperative that hygiene within your business is one of your utmost priorities. This is not only for the benefit of your clients and visitors but also for members of staff to ensure that your business is running smoothly and nobody’s health is put at risk.

It is the responsibility of everyone who works within the salon to practice good hygiene. All workers must make sure that tasks such as sterilising, keeping the place tidy and sweeping the floor are kept on top of regularly. We recommend using a daily checklist so you can keep records of each job that needs to be done. This will then help you to keep an efficient salon.

Below are the specific at risk procedures for beauty therapy, including injection treatments.

• Facials
• Using needles, for example botox injections, piercings or tattoos
• Body treatments
• Manicures and pedicures
• Application of cosmetics

Infection control is a strong topic when it comes to salons. Due to the sheer number of clients that come and go it can pose a risk to clients and members of staff when it comes to the transmission of infection.

The following infection control definition should be fully understood:

Cleaning
Cleaning usually refers to the removal of dirt from surfaces using soap, water and antibacterial wipes . It is the removal of all visible debris on surfaces and the first step to a clean salon.

Sanitation
Sanitation reduces the number of germs on instruments and surfaces. This works by chemically cleaning surfaces to prevent the spread of infection. These products are often purchased in a concentrated form and then mixed with water.

Disinfection
This is a chemical process that eliminates the majority of microorganisms. These chemical products destroy, bacteria, fungi and viruses.

Sterilisation
This process completely gets rid of all microbial life and destroys all potentially dangerous organisms.

Your hands come into contact with many items a day in a salon, as well as other people’s hair and skin. This could pose a big risk to health if you don’t regularly clean your hands and follow these personal hygiene tips:

• Ensure soap dispensers are installed and wash hands with warm water and soap regularly throughout the day and in between clients.
• Make hand sanitiser available for staff and clients as it provides further protection against cross infection.
• Disposable gloves should be worn when cutting, styling hair or dealing with clients.
• Wear personal protective clothing - such as polythene aprons or face masks - when applicable and change these in between clients.

For more information on personal hygiene, refer to our hand hygiene guides.

You need to keep all work surfaces and trolleys clean to prevent infection. It will also make your salon look a lot better too.

• Disinfect your surfaces and trolleys with wipes or a spray. This removes bacteria and fine dust. When it comes to cleaning your trolleys, use alcohol free disinfectant wipes, which are designed for cleaning plastics.
• Phones, tills and keyboards should also be wiped clean with disinfectant too.

If you have a large salon buy these products in bulk, saving you money in the long run.

Tattoo parlours and piercing studios should be inspected by Public Health once a year, so for health and safety reasons you need to keep the place suitably clean.

• New sterile needles for every client. Sharing needles will transmit infections such as Hepatitis C.
• Disposable gloves - ideally nitrile gloves and vinyl gloves - should be changed after seeing each client and when cleaning and prepping your work area.
• Try not to reuse ink and ink pots. A good artist will use disposable cups filled with the right amount of ink.
• Corks, razors, markers, swabs, cotton, bibs, stencil paper and other supplies should only be used once per client and then thrown away.
• Sterilise equipment before using, in an autoclave.
• Your work area should be cleaned with a disinfectant.
• When dealing with blood, use patient wipes and specialist body fluid cleaners and body fluid spill kits.
• Always remember to dispose of your needles in a sharps bin.

Most salon chairs are made from PVC or vinyl, this means they are easy to clean. However, you need to be using the right product so you don’t ruin the chairs. Disinfectant that contains alcohol should be avoided - it will crack the material making it easy for germs to multiply.

• Wipe down and disinfect chairs on a regular basis to get rid of dead skin cells and any other from of bacteria. This can be cleaned with washing up detergent, water and a cloth.
• Remember couch rolls/hygiene rolls for your treatment couches. They protect your equipment as well as providing a hygienic place for your clients to lie on. Change it between clients.

• Sweep floors after each haircut. A pile of hair on the floor can be slippery, which automatically makes it a hazard. Sweep it under workstations with a brush or use a dustpan and brush before depositing it in the bin.
• Clean all tools of excess hair. Brushes, combs and clippers will need cleaning between clients. Remember to disinfect them using disinfectant spray - as well as soaking the tools in a sterilisation fluid or place them in sterilisation pouches (this can be done overnight).

When cleaning your heated styling tools, make sure they are switched off and have completely cooled down.

• Curling tongs and straighteners can be cleaned using rubbing alcohol and a cotton pad. Wet your pad in the liquid and wipe any styling product to remove the build up of germs. Afterwards, use a clean, damp cloth to wipe the tool with a towel and leave it to dry.
• Hairdryers build up lots of dirt so using a old toothbrush or something similar, take off the vent and scrub away any dust and lint.
• Hair brushes will require a little shampoo on the bristles now and again to keep them clean and fresh.

• Floors should be swept between each client and mopped with a mop, bucket and floor cleaner at the end of each day.

• Towels, gowns and other linen should be washed regularly using laundry detergent and washing machines. Used towels will look unsightly but also harbour germs if left damp, so make sure they are completely dry before putting away.

For a helpful reminder on how to keep your salon in tip top condiction print our and keep a copy of our helpful Salon Cleaning Checklist.