Posted By Sue hogan
My area of work normally is within Construction.I have been asked by a friend to do a safety audit on their Hair salon.

I understand that lots of the hazards will be similar to that of an office but with the added hazards of the lotions and potions. Dermatitus and suchlike will also come into the equation.

If anyone has the experience of inspecting a Hair Salon and would be happy to share any information with me it would be greatly received.

Posted By TT
Think you've got it mostly covered. Dermatitis is the big push at the moment alongside allergens in colourants etc. - consider both the colourer and the colouree.

Others things to consider may include:
- blood-borne cross contamination from scissor vs ear moments and the like.
- inhalation of hair - encourage vacuuming of cut hair rather than sweeping and disturbing the smaller elements of hair into the air.

With regard dermatitis and from experience, most hairdressers don't want to wear gloves whilst wet working and will give you a long list of reasons why not - cost and snagging hair being the top two. However, they'll likely have tried only latex gloves which admittedly do seem to snag. Patterned nitrile gloves seem to perform better and I've had hairdressers try them quite successfully. They can be reused throughout the day too where possible so costs can be quickly reduced.