**Edit** – Since this article was published, there have been new guidelines from the Government, which allow beauty and nail salons to reopen from 13th July 2020 with some services restricted. However, the tips we’ve shared are just as valid now as they were before.
Are you looking forward to being able to reopen your beauty salon after the Covid-19 lockdown? We know we’re eagerly awaiting being able to go to one! However, these are unusual times and we all must do our part to keep us and everyone around us safe.
Even so, the lockdown doesn’t mean you can’t prepare for when it’s time to open. There are things you can do to make sure you have everything in place to reopen your beauty salon safely.
In fact, this is the perfect time to start planning policies and procedures to determine how you’ll run a safe and healthy salon. This way, you can have measures in place when you do reopen. These will help you protect your clients and workers whilst establishing you as a responsible business owner.
So, here’s a guide to reopening your salon after the pandemic.
What Do You Need to Reopen Your Beauty Salon Safely?
As per the Government guidelines, you need to ensure your clients and employees have enough space to maintain social distancing. You’ll also need to provide Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) to shield them from airborne infection and some form of barrier between people.
In order to minimise the spread of the Coronavirus, you must also have a system of cleaning and disinfecting all surfaces in the salon. Here are some suggestions to help you create systems to implement these guidelines.
How Do You Ensure the Safety of Your Clients?
Social Distancing Protocol
Plan and prepare a way of keeping clients at an appropriate distance from each other. This might mean fewer working stations, as you might need to increase the space between each one.
If possible, create a waiting area where clients who have come in can wait away from those already inside.
Inform clients about the distancing measures as well as any other systems you may have in place, like asking them to wash their hands when they come in or go out. It’s best if you do it beforehand, so they are aware prior to coming in.
Insist on Appointments
The best way of ensuring fewer clients inside your salon is by insisting on an appointment-based system. This way, you can control how many people there are inside your salon at any given time.
You should also be firm about them sticking to their appointment time, to avoid having too many clients waiting inside. One way of informing them of the new system is to start an email campaign before you open. With the clients informed in advance, you’ll be able to reopen your salon safely when the time comes.
Online Appointments and Payments
In order to minimise contact, you can implement an online appointment system, where clients can pay when they make the appointment. This will mean that when they do come in, they won’t have to come in contact with anyone other than their beauty technician.
With an online booking system, you could also reinforce your message about needing them to be on time through emails and the confirmation page.
If you can’t have an online page for appointments, plan a way of taking appointments and payments over the phone. Whilst not as secure as a web portal, this can be a part of your strategy to safely reopen your beauty salon after the Covid-19 lockdown.
Physical Barriers
In order to reduce any chance of unnecessary contact, invest in screens and barriers that you can place between clients. This will help prevent any potential spread of infection between them while they get their beauty treatment done.
Manage Congestion
Whilst you may insist on clients being on time for their appointments, there is always the chance that someone is early or late. Be prepared for such eventualities and have separate entry and exit points. This way, your clients won’t have to cross each other as they come in or go out.
If you can’t have separate entry and exit doors, use your outside spaces for queueing, where possible. You can also have a staff member who can direct the flow of traffic, so to speak.
Covid-19 Related Questions
In order to protect your staff and other clients, get in touch with people with appointments to ask them if they have any symptoms of Covid-19 a day before they come in. If they have even mild symptoms, encourage them to stay at home.
Test and Trace
In order to contain the spread of Covid-19, the NHS is using Test and Trace. If someone is positive for the Coronavirus, they trace where the patient has been and the people they’ve come in contact with. You can support this service by keeping a record of all appointments and clients who visited your salon for 21 days.
Ensuring the Safety of Your Workers When You Reopen Your Beauty Salon
Physical Protection
Whilst your employees and you might have to be physically close to clients in order to carry out treatments, you can protect yourselves with PPE. Eyeglasses, disposable gloves, and face masks can help keep you safe when you are in contact with clients.
Visors, screens and barriers can also help keep the spread of the virus down. As you did for clients, invest in visors and protective screens for your employees and yourself as well.
Spacing Clients Out
With an appointment-based process, you can ensure fewer clients inside the salon at any time. This helps protect your staff from the spread of infection in an overcrowded area. It also allows you to spread out clients in a way that gives your employees time to disinfect the area as well as themselves.
They can use the time between appointments to wipe down all surfaces and equipment that came in contact with a client. Also, they can discard and dispose of the gloves and facemasks properly, and wash their hands thoroughly.
Reduce Contact
Wherever possible, ensure that your employees don’t need to share equipment. This will prevent them from coming in contact with each other any more than strictly necessary. Using disposable products will also help reduce the chances of infection.
Workplace Hygiene
Encourage your staff to wash hands and disinfect between clients. Ask them to bring their own food, drinks, plates, and glasses. Ask them not to share food and snacks during this time. Also, create an atmosphere where people don’t need to raise their voices, by reducing noise levels, keeping music low, etc, as this could lead to more airborne pathogens.
Ventilation and Extraction
We have spoken at length about the dangers of fumes and dust inside salons. Whilst these require extraction, you now also need to ensure proper ventilation because of Covid-19. In fact, an air filtration system equipped with HEPA filters could also be a part of your strategy to control both particulate matter and airborne aerosol when reopening your nail and hair salon.
If you aren’t sure about the right extraction and filtration system for your beauty salon, send us an email. We’ll be able to advise you on the right one for your needs.
