General hygiene

Hand washing, using clean equipment, using safe procedures and keeping your premises clean can help to prevent the spread of infection to your customers. The Public Health (Infection Control for Personal Appearance Services) Act 2003  and the Infection Control Guidelines for Personal Appearance Services apply to hairdressers, nail salons and beauty therapists to help minimise the risk of infection. The guidelines provide information on:

• hand hygiene
• cleaning equipment and premises
• waste disposal
• sterilising equipment.

It is a good idea to keep a copy of the guidelines at your premises.

Personal hygiene

Handwashing is the most important measure in preventing the spread of infection. You must wash your hands:

• before and after each client
• before putting on and after removing gloves
• before contact with instruments that penetrate the skin
• after contact with blood or other body substances
• after contact with used instruments and jewellery
• after eating, smoking, going to the toilet
• whenever hands are visibly soiled
• in any other circumstance when infection risks are apparent.

Operators must not smoke while attending to a customer.