Cosmetology Sanitation Information

A beauty salon can be a dirty place.

Disease-causing bacteria thrive in unsanitary environments. Does your beauty salon provide a habitat for unhealthy microbes that can lead to repulsive looking or life-threatening infections? Good sanitation in the salon protects you from risk.

Significance

A cosmetologist who practices good sanitation reduces the risk of spreading infection from client to client. He knows how to handle clients with potentially contagious conditions, how to protect clients from hazardous materials and how to protect himself and clients from the spread of infections for contaminated implements.

Regulations

All state cosmetology boards set guidelines on sanitation in the salon. They include recommended concentration of bleach, alcohol and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registered solutions that prevent viruses, bacterium and fungi. Law dictates proper hand washing, laundering of salon linens and assigns which types of solution cosmetologists should use for disinfecting instruments, cleaning up blood and body fluids, and disinfecting surfaces including shampoo bowls, pedicure thrones and the floor.

Considerations

When in a salon observe what your stylist or technician does with implements such as brushes, clippers, fingernail files and tweezers once she completes your services. Do clean implements, combs and brushes come out of a dry sterilizer cabinet? Does she trash disposable products in the trash as dictated by cosmetology law, or throw things like dirty fingernail files back into the drawer for later use?

References

• Docstoc: Cosmetology Sanitation
• Modern Salon: Clean Up Styling Tools