Scorpion Legal Protection looks at Minister of Small Business Development Khumbudzo Ntshavheni’s directive outlining the new guidelines for the personal care industry as part of the country's revised Level 3 lockdown rules. They apply for both formal and informal services. The categories of services that are being allowed to operate again are: hairdressing, barbering, nail and toe treatments, facial treatment and make-up, body massage, and tattooing and body piercing. These businesses may only operate if they are fully compliant with all the relevant protocols for their services.
All salons are expected to follow basic health and safety guidelines for personal care businesses, including practicing regular handwashing, social distancing between customers and staff wherever possible, the use of cloth masks at all times, and cleaning and disinfecting of any touch areas and equipment.
For formal salons, the rules are a bit stricter.
In terms of handwashing and sanitising, there are additional rules. They must provide a hand sanitising/handwashing station for all customers to use before they enter the business premises. The salon workers must also wash their hands with fresh, warm water and soap or sanitise their hands before and after serving a client, as well as when handling cash.
The business premises and any products like hairspray, treatments, etc must also be cleaned and disinfected before and after use. Common areas and the tools being used must be disinfected before and after each client is served, fresh, clean towels must be used for each client and where possible, and doors and windows must be opened to allow better ventilation in the space.
The workers at the salon must also follow strict PPE rules. All workers must be given masks and face shields/visors by the employer and these must be worn at all times when dealing with clients. The face shields must be cleaned after each client is served. Aprons must be changed after serving each customer, and can only be reused after the apron has been washed with soap and water. Where the worker must use gloves to do treatments, the gloves must be changed after each client and may not be shared between workers. No client is allowed to be served if they are not wearing a mask.
Access to the premises must be controlled. Salons must use a booking system for appointments. They may only allow clients inside if they can maintain 1.5m distance between each client. These 1.5m distances must be clearly marked so everyone is clear on social distancing. The salon must keep a register of all clients who enter the salon for traceability, and no guests must be allowed. Any client who has flu-like symptoms must not be allowed to enter the salon. Lastly, salons are not allowed to serve clients food and beverages.
Tips
- Standard operating procedures for formal salons are stricter than for informal salons.
- Strict hygiene, disinfecting of work spaces and equipment, and controlled access must be done at salons.
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* This is only basic advice and cannot be relied on solely. The information is correct at the time of being sent to publishing. The above information is a summary of the directive.