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WHY TAKE RISKS WITH HEALTH AND SAFETY?

Is indifference or ignorance putting your staff at risk and costing you money? According to the Health & Safety Executive, every year 13 million working days are lost as people take time off due to work-related illness or injury. Have you done the math yet? This could be costing your salon hundreds or even thousands of pounds every year. In this article Anne Long-Murray tells you how to save headaches and money by keeping your staff healthy and your clients happy.

In an industry where image is everything, it's often easy to overlook the more "mundane" aspects of your business. Health and Safety regulations have never been known to make stimulating bedtime reading. So, why bother? After all, as long as you've got the Health and Safety poster somewhere in the salon and there's a few old product data sheets knocking about in what you loosely call your "COSHH(1) box," then what's the problem? You've got better things to think about … like making money! Right?

Well, that may seem a reasonable, practical concern… but it's just so wrong. In this article I'll start by giving you two excellent reasons why your salon needs a Health and Safety strategy and then I'll let you in on the 7 basic steps to carrying out a risk assessment2 of your salon.

First, here are the two reasons, aka "the business case":

Reason 1: 4 TIMES MORE!!!

In fact, this first reason for doing things right, should be your main reason for doing EVERYTHING right by your business. Let it be your mantra. 4 times more. That's what black women are spending compared to their mainstream counterparts. 4 TIMES more! And not only do we spend it, thanks to the media and articles like this one, we now KNOW that we're spending 4 times MORE!!! And if you know and we know that we're spending 4 TIMES MORE, then guess who else knows it too? That's right, it's your mainstream competitor. No need to name names here. You know who I'm talking 'bout. Those names you whisper in hushed tones when you look at the European finalists in the "Afro" section of any hairdressing awards and you make disparaging noises about them "stealing our market." And why shouldn't they?

Let's be honest for a minute. We've been taking each other for granted for far too long now. Loyalty has its limits, and black women now have choices. Your clients deserve quality service in a safe environment, where they don't have to worry about slips or trips or whether you think sterilisation only applies to babies' bottles. And not only do they deserve to enjoy their treatment in a hazard-free environment, but they now know they deserve it, and if you're not ready to offer them that promise then they're prepared to find someone who is.

Reason 2: BEAUTY IS SKIN DEEP … so is dermatitis

According to the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH), many salons expose staff to unacceptable risk of dermatitis and other skin conditions through indifference to or ignorance of basic Health and Safety requirements. Dermatitis is a skin condition with symptoms including rough, dry or inflamed skin. It can be caused by skin irritation, allergic reaction or repeated exposure to a single chemical or substance. Salon juniors often suffer because they do most of the shampooing, which is a prime cause of the condition as it removes protective oils and dries the skin.

It's up to you to carry out formal assessments of the risks to your staff from occupational dermatitis when using chemicals in the salon. You may be thinking "Dermatitis? Pfft! It's not fatal." Then consider these two facts: 1) it is your legal duty to conduct these assessments, and 2) if you fail to do so, given that in more than 10% of cases people affected with dermatitis have to take time off work to recover, then you've already cut into your salon's profits by failing to take a few simple measures to minimise the risks of skin damage.

Convinced yet? Good!

Here are the 7 basic steps to undertake a risk assessment:

• 1. Identify any potential hazards. For example, examine what chemicals are used.
• 2. If possible take steps to remove the hazard.
• 3. If this is not possible, assess the risks that might arise from the hazard.
• 4. Examine who is at most risk. For example, check staff history for eczema or dermatitis.
• 5. Take measures to reduce the risk. For example provide protective gloves.
• 6. Train your staff to identify and control the risk.
• 7. Continually review the assessments on a regular basis.

Implementing health and safety measures doesn't have to be expensive, time consuming or complicated. In fact, safer and more efficient working practices can often save money but, more importantly, they can help to save lives.