Hair raising experience
Injury lawyers have urged hairdressers to be stricter when it comes to public safety.
Law figures have stated that such services should be regulated to prevent personal injury amongst customers.
The plea comes after several individuals have been harmed from hairdressing chemicals, bleaches and dyes.
Their calls have been backed by industry bodies who say checks would help prevent burns, baldness and scalp damage.
Presently hairdressers can voluntarily register with the Hairdressing Council. Worryingly less than 10% of the 130,000 hairdressers within Great Britain are members though.
However, the government says that it does not want to add to the regulatory burden and current measures are satisfactory.
Not many agree with this - one critic being stylist Andrew Barton, who said that regulation methods would be the “only way we can get rid of cowboys in our trade.”
Habia (Hair and Beauty Industry Authority) says the health and safety checks by local authorities are basic and not specific to the hairdressing industry, because there is not one single legislation that applies to it.
Bad hair day
One victim of substandard hair care almost cancelled her wedding after a reaction to a hair dye left her with a burned scalp. She stated: “It was a big nightmare, I've never gone through something like this ever. I've never been so scared; my life felt like it was falling apart.”
To register with the Hairdressing Council a hairdresser must have a minimum of NVQ Level 2 or six years' provable experience.
Amanda Stevens from The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) said: “Compulsory regulation would mean improvements in safety and people would know what to expect and would have a better prospect of not being injured.”
In 2008 alone, injury lawyers dealt with 40 cases of negligence in London, 17 in Newcastle, 14 in Manchester, 13 in Bristol and 4 lawsuits of bad hair days in Birmingham.
Hair today gone tomorrow
The few responsible hairdressers in the UK have stated that safety checks are simple and easy to adopt. One stylist in Wales said that he always practices health and safety and other salons should do too:
Mark Coray, vice-president of the National Hairdressers’ Federation and a salon owner in Cardiff, said it was essential hairdressers insist customers have a skin test before colouring their hair.
He commented: “Manufacturers’ guidelines say you should test on a regular basis, especially with a new client as you don’t know them from Adam and they could have a reaction to the PPD. It’s not law, but as a professional salon you have a duty of care.
“The loophole in the law is that if you don’t follow the duty of care, you could be prosecuted and manufacturers won’t represent you in court. Also, if you are insured but haven’t followed the guidelines, your insurance is void.
“In my salon, nine out of 10 people agree to have patch tests. For the few that don’t, we tell them the consequences of not having one and make them sign a disclaimer before we will give them any colouring treatments.”
Updated on 30/11/2009