Salon Hygiene - II

There are 5 aspects one needs to focus on when it comes to understanding source of infection spreading to clients.

A) Cross Infection - Infection from salon staff to clients or vice-versa
B) Clients Contact Surface - Chairs, Beds, Hair wash station, gowns, capes, bands etc
C) Clients utility area - Toilets, pantries, telephone, computers etc
D) Non-invasive Instruments and tools - Equipments used for manicure, pedicure, hair cut, beauty and body treatments E) Invasive equipments - Equipments used for body piercing, micro-needle, Botox, Fillers etc

We would look at one aspect of salon hygiene which is more personal in nature.

Cross Infection:

Transfer of infection from one person to another is called cross infection.

Most common source of infection in a salon is the client. At times, salon staff too could be the source of spreading infection.

Salon Staff with obvious diseases like cold, cough etc spread air borne disease while sneezing and coughing and should not be allowed to treat clients. Ideally, clients with such ailments should avoid visiting salons for their services.

One should take extreme care while treating clients with open wounds as there are risks of several bacterial, viral and fungal infections spreading via blood, pus and other body fluid contact.

Precaution prior to treatment

Beauty therapist should identify contra indications (conditions under which a particular treatment cannot be undertaken) at the time of client consultation itself and advise client to consult their doctor if they suspect their client has visible sign of infection in the area where beauty treatment has been sought. For example - redness, itchiness, open wounds and sore skin.

7 Must for Beauty Therapist

7 things a therapist must do to avoid cross infections from their end:

1. Must keep the nails always trimmed and cleaned regularly to avoid harbouring harmful germs.
2. Must wash / sanitize hands regularly after usage of toilet or every client treatment.
3. Clothes should be very clean and ideally should not come in contact with clients ( short sleeves recommended ).
4. Disposable gloves to be used wherever possible and definitely to be used in treatment such as intimate waxing and micro derma abrasion where there is a possibility of contact with body fluids.
5. Cover your mouth with clean mask if you suspect having cough and cold.
6. Ideally, therapist should take shower before they start their first service as they would carry plenty of microbes with them while on their way to workplace.
7. Refrain from work if you have any condition which is likely to be contagious or infectious (any diseases which spread through direct contact or are air borne).