Beauty salon legislation and regulations

Caring for both your clients and your staff is ultra important: ensuring you’re on the right side of the law and running a successful, reputable business that’s great for service and for safety.

Anyone who currently works in the beauty industry – whether self-employed or as an employee – will know that it comes with many specialist products and equipment and, therefore, many hazards. In fact, health and beauty firms are some of the most heavily regulated.

As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, new rules and procedures have also been introduced which have been confusing for many beauty salons to navigate. Many consumers are still looking for safety measures from their salons – which means you need to be ahead of the curve if you're running a small business salon or startup.

Below, we'll explain everything you need to know about the obvious requirements like insurance, licenses, and training, alongside the less obvious, like hygiene and accountancy. Read on to brush up on your health and safety regulations and get your knowledge on the legislation shellac-solid.

Health and safety post-Covid

Following the coronavirus pandemic, the beauty and salon industry has been hit hard.

According to the annual state of the market report, conducted in September 2020 by the National Hair and Beauty Federation (NHBF), 41% of hair and beauty SMEs said they would not survive until Christmas.

Restrictions were lifted in July, but uptake is still down for the majority of SMEs in the sector. This means it's more important than ever to be appearing safe to your customers so they can feel reassured that they won't be risking their health when visiting your business.

That means even if you're foregoing measures which are no longer legally required – such as social distancing or masks – the UK government has released a list of guidelines for companies to follow to ensure they are protecting customers from COVID-19.

These are:

Complete a health and safety risk assessment that includes the risk from COVID-19

Complete a risk assessment, considering the measures set out in this guidance. Find out how to do a risk assessment here.

Provide adequate ventilation

Make sure there is a supply of fresh air to indoor spaces where there are people present.

Clean more often

It’s especially important to clean surfaces that people touch a lot. Your staff and your customers should use hand sanitiser and clean their hands frequently.

Turn away people with COVID-19 symptoms

Staff members or customers should self-isolate if they have a high temperature, a new continuous cough, or a loss or change to their sense of smell or taste. They must also self-isolate if they:

• have tested positive for COVID-19
• live in a household with someone who has symptoms, unless they’re exempt from self-isolation
• have been told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace

If you know that a worker is legally required to self-isolate, you must not allow them to come to work.

Enable people to check in at your venue

You’re no longer legally required to collect customer contact details, but doing so will support NHS Test and Trace to contact those who may have been exposed to COVID-19 so that they can book a test. You can enable people to check in to your venue by displaying an NHS QR code poster.

Communicate and train

Keep all your workers, contractors and visitors up-to-date on how you’re using and updating safety measures.

You can read more government advice about how to stay safe post-Covid on the gov.uk website.

Health and safety with beauty products

While any business in a public premises needs to minimise health hazards – such as exposed wires, trippable rugs and wet floors – risk of personal injury is particularly rife when it comes to beauty and spa treatments, due to the products, equipment and tools used on clients’ bodies. So, health and safety in a beauty salon is of paramount importance.

To avoid the risks posed by the use of beauty products, make a list of all of the products you’ll use in the salon and obtain hazard sheets from their manufacturers.

Some will contain harmful substances that can cause skin and respiratory problems, so it’s essential that you assess their safety. The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Essentials will help with this. They have specific health and safety guides for hairdressers, manicurists, and piercing and micropigmentation (such as microblading) specialists.

Here are some of the key things to keep in mind when working with potentially harmful chemicals:

✓ Provide the right protection, i.e. powder-free, vinyl gloves gloves that are at least 300mm long

✓ Ensure clean, running water is near to any part of your business that handles chemicals

✓ Check that containers are easy to pour from

✓ Buy products in a ready-for-use solution where possible

✓ For solid chemicals, see if they come in tablet form, or in a wide-necked container so that it is easy to scoop out granules

✓ Store products securely in a cool, dry, dark place that will keep any possible spills to a minimum

✓ Read the instructions on the label carefully and follow the instructions for use

✓ Keep products off your skin – wash off any splashes immediately

✓ Make-up only as much solution as needed for immediate use

✓ Write down your procedures for dealing with clinical waste
✓ Solvent-based products may produce harmful vapours, provide masks where necessary

✓ Avoid contact with blood and tissue residues to prevent the spread of infection

✓ Check that all controls are being used properly

✓ Consider substituting chemicals with safer products

✓ If dealing with clinical waste, you will need a licensed waste contractor

Manicurists: ‘dust masks’ are not acceptable as a stand alone control for harmful odours. To control chemical odours, provide an extractor hood or a downdraught table providing a draught of at least 1 metre. Alternatively, you’ll need an inlet air speed around 0.5 metres per second that goes into an extractor hood attached to the table.

The client’s nails must be over the downdraught or close to the hood to keep both the manicurist and the client safe from potentially harmful fumes.

Health and safety with salon equipment

You’ll need to check all of the equipment and tools that you use in your salon, thoroughly reading any information that has come with them to ensure you’re using them safely and hygienically.

If you have a shower or an automatic spray tan booth on your premises, you’ll also need to consider the risk of legionella bacteria from water systems and ensure everything is kept clean.

Plus, if you’re looking to offer treatments involving intense pulsed light systems or lasers in England, you must register with the Care Quality Commission.

Elsewhere in the UK, the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales, the Care Commission, and the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety are bodies that can help clarify what’s legally required for the safe running of a beauty salon.

Salon equipment health and safety checklist:

✓ Use sterile single-use instruments wherever possible

✓ Sterilise all reusable equipment that can be contaminated with blood, including semi-permanent tattooing equipment – note: ultraviolet (UV) light boxes and glass bead sterilisers are not good enough (To find a steriliser, either negotiate access to a steriliser in your local hospital or clinic, or use a steam steriliser.)

✓ Blood contamination means that swabs and gloves are clinical waste. Put these in a clinical waste container

✓ Follow the instructions in maintenance manuals – keep equipment in effective and efficient working order

✓ Steam sterilisers require regular examinations and tests. Seek advice from your insurance provider and make a note of each time your equipment is examined

✓ Keep the work area clean

✓ Wash out mixing equipment after use. Dispose of this waste liquid safely

✓ Write down your sterilisation procedures and make sure these are followed

✓ Sterilise reusable equipment as soon as possible after use

✓ Clean out ultrasonicators at the end of every day

✓ Disinfect shower heads at least once a week

First aid

You’ll also need a first aid kit on-site, and an accident book that means staff are able to record any work-based accidents.

This does not make you completely liable for all accidents in the workplace – if a hairdresser on your team catches themselves with a pair of scissors, they are responsible for this accident, but it must be recorded so that you are able to see if this is a recurring incident, and so you know what first aid supplies need to be kept in, and re-stocked, at all times.

However, if a member of staff is injured due to the environment in which they work, like tripping over exposed wiring or getting a shock from a faulty electrical device, then you are responsible for this and will be open to legal action and a hefty fine.

To avoid this circumstance, it’s best practice to consult a health and safety professional who can carry out an audit of your premises. Or, employ someone able to be trained to make this assessment in-house.
First aid training for staff is a must. Everyone in your business needs to know how to keep both themselves and their clients safe, plus what to do should an accident or incident occur.

Institutions like The Red Cross, St John’s Ambulance or The British Heart Foundation will offer the basics in workplace first aid training. Getting your staff trained will give you team the confidence to deal with any minor medical incidents encountered at work.

If you’re looking for a tailor-made first aid course for your business, then there are lots of companies who can offer a bespoke training plan – ready to teach your staff how to prevent accidents and administer first aid if you need. A specific first aid training company will also provide your salon with certification and accreditation– proving to your customers that you’re a safe salon with a fully first-aid trained team.

Should I outsource my health and safety needs?

Outsourcing health and safety reduces the risk of hurting your business both legally and financially from not operating within health and safety law.

In order to be compliant with the Health and Safety Act 1974, there must be a nominated person who ensures that your company is fully and consistently compliant with all health and safety rules – this member of staff is known as the ‘competent’ employee.

However, to hire, train and retain a member of staff whose sole responsibility is to ensure the health and safety compliance of your business is both costly and inefficient.

Instead, it’s possible to pay a one-off fee to a health and safety agency able to offer a bespoke service, tailored to your business needs and ensures that the entire operation is working within the lines of the law at all times. So you don’t have to burden your staff with the hassle of compliance, as the competent person required, by law, to be associated with your business, can be outsourced rather than in-house.

And, if you’re worried that this is going to cost more than your start-up salon can afford, don’t worry because companies such as SAS offer an outsourced health and safety service at an annual fee of as little as £295.00.

Outsourcing H&S will grant your business an annual health and safety advisory service including 24/7 telephone access to your advisor and email support – providing peace of mind and making sure you’re always operating on the right side of the law.

Some outsourced health and safety services also offer training and staff support opportunities. Should your business decide that it’s time to train someone up to take on the task in-house, companies such as Arinite will help you transition from a company that outsources health and safety, to one that has a registered professional on the premises at all times.

Pros and cons of outsourcing health and safety:

Pros:

• Audits will provide a thorough review of your business’ compliance to H&S regulations, and let you know which areas of your health and safety need to be improved upon to keep your staff happy and healthy and your business legally complaint.
• Avoid fines and reputational damage by knowing that your health and safety regulations are in the hands of a professional who will always be up-to-date and in-the-know when it comes to any shifts or subtle change in H&S laws or regulations.
• Provide necessary health and safety training. Employers are required to ensure all employees have the skills to carry out their roles safely and responsibly.
• A specialist health and safety consultancy will be able to offer bespoke training courses, covering a selection of specific topics to ensure legal requirements are met and allowing your staff to take a measure of responsibility for their own health and safety in the workplace.

Cons:

• Bringing in someone external to assess your health and safety can pose a risk to sensitive information and data on both clients and employees. When a H&S survey is underway, it’ll be imperative that you do not leave any customer or employee information lying around as this could mean a serious breach of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations).

The beauty of owning your own business is that you can be your own boss. But, when you outsource your H&S, you relinquish a certain amount of control when it comes to your day-to-day operations. For this reason, you might be more comfortable training an already trusted and responsible employee to become your competent employee.

Regulations checklist

Here’s what you can do to make your beauty business is regulations-complaint and completely legal:

1. Obtain Licenses

First of all, you’ll need to register your salon or spa, and apply for a premises license, with your local authority or council. A premises license will enable you to legally run a salon and perform beauty treatments in the property you’ve chosen.

It’s important that you’re licensed to carry out each of your treatments, and it may be that your premises license does cover all of them – for example, massage and special treatment premises licensing enables you to perform manicures, chiropody, light treatments and more – but you might find you need additional licenses to legally perform others.

So, be sure to thoroughly check the spa license requirements for the specific treatments you offer licenses with your local authority (each region/county is different). If you want to go into this conversation prepared, check the government’s online license finder for an overview of what you’ll be needing.

On a different note, if you’re planning to play sound recordings in your salon – whether relaxing panpipes, crashing waves or the UK Top 40 – you’ll also need a licence from Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL).

You should also consider whether you’ll be serving any alcoholic refreshments. Alcohol is a heavily regulated substance which, as a business, you can’t offer without the right licensing. This will include an additional premises license enabling you to serve drinks in your salon.

Rachel Fox, founder of The Beauty & Blow Dry Studio shared her experience in additional license needed when it comes to the boozy bonus that comes with paying her salon a visit:

“We offer complimentary prosecco, so I needed to pass an exam to gain my alcohol licence so I could then go on to apply for a premises licence. It was a costly process but totally worth it, as we know we’re doing everything correctly and by the book.”

2. Get insured

When it comes to running a beauty salon, being covered by the right insurance policies is crucial in case you, your staff or your salon are subject to a claim for compensation – whether over an incomplete or unsatisfactory treatment or an accident a customer has had on your premises.

As standard, your self-employed beauty therapist insurance needs will include:

• Public liability insurance
• Products liability insurance (particularly if you’re selling beauty products at your salon)
• Employer’s liability insurance (this is a legal requirement if you hire staff)
• Treatment liability insurance

It’s worth looking into specialist salon, spa or beauty insurance providers, like Salon Gold, which can set you up with all of these plus plenty more in one package.

You can find an in-depth summary of the insurance you’ll need as a beauty therapist here.

3. Set up business accountancy

In order to accept customers’ payments a business, you’ll need a business banking account and a merchant account – which is a must for accepting credit and debit card payments due to the process these payments follow:

• A customer makes payment with their credit or debit card. The money goes into your merchant account
• The customer’s bank approves or declines the payment
• If approved, the payment then transfers into your business bank account

You can compare the best merchant account providers for your salon or spa using Startups’ free health and safety quotes comparison tool.

You’ll also need to ensure you can manage your bookkeeping, cashflow and inventory.

It’s worth looking into software that can help you do this smoothly or, better still, employing an accountant. While you will have to pay them, you’ll also avoid the risk of making costly errors with your finances or wasting hours of your time grappling with numbers.

Additional regulations checklist

Beauty salon qualifications and training:

If you’re going to be performing salon treatments yourself, being qualified is a must. And, as the head of the salon, it’s worth training up to NVQ Level 4 or an equivalent so you know as much as possible about your treatments and are regarded as an authority in performing them.

The range of beauty qualifications available is dizzying. As well as NVQs, you can earn:

• City & Guilds
• SVQs (Scottish Vocational Qualifications)
• Vocational Training and Charitable Trust (VTCT) certificates
• BTEC HNDs
• Confederation of International Beauty Therapy and Cosmetology (CIBTAC) qualifications
• Comite International d’Estethique et de Cosmetologie (CIDESCO) qualifications
• ITEC and Edexcel qualifications

NB: You should be aware that training from a product company won’t result in a recognised qualification.

You might also find that management training – which will help you to effectively run the business and your team – is useful if you’ve no prior experience in business or management.

Your local colleges or universities may offer courses in beauty therapy and spa treatments which you can study on a part or full-time basis, or you could look to train at a private beauty school.

Salon legislation and regulations: A summary

Being the boss of your own beauty salon means taking on the responsibility for both your staff and your clients’ health and safety.

There are lots of aspects to making sure that your salon is as safe and hygienic as possible, and constantly ensuring you’re up-to-date with the latest laws and regulations can be time consuming and perhaps, beyond what you’ve been trained for.

That’s why outsourcing health and safety advice and training is such a popular option. For more information on how you can access further training, or to speak to a health and safety professional, fill in our two-minute health and safety form, and we’ll put you in touch with the right person for the task.