Whether you run a beauty salon, work as a nail technician, or you’re thinking about entering the business, you should be well aware of the many health hazards in nail salons.
We’ve previously looked at the risk of allergic reactions and how to prevent them. In this post we’ll go one step further to look at the biggest hazards of being a nail technician and how to protect yourself in a salon environment.
What are the dangers of nail salons?
1. Skin exposure to harsh chemicals
The first danger to nail salon safety is one we covered at length in our allergy awareness piece, but it begs repeating here. Nail techs can come into contact with many harsh chemicals on the job, including (meth)acrylate, which is a key ingredient in most acrylics and gel polishes used in beauty salons. With repeated exposure, it’s highly likely you might develop an allergy that could lead to swelling and reddening of the skin, loosing of the nail and a rash anywhere on the body, together with shortness of breath.
Wearing nitrile gloves, using a suitable UV lamp and removing the inhibition layer carefully on fingers in size order (smallest first), are all great ways to help stop this becoming a problem.
2. Muscle strains
Any job where you’re sat hunched over, concentrating intently for long periods of time, leaning on a hard surface and performing repetitive, sometimes subtle motions is going to put you at risk of muscle issues. The amount of filing and buffing that nail techs do certainly marks them out as candidates for this.
Any salon practicing good health and safety for nail technicians will provide adjustable chairs, soft pads for leaning on and variable lighting to ensure you don’t need to lean in further than needed to see what you’re doing.
3. Cuts from sharp objects
The harsh chemicals nail techs can be exposed to also have a habit of making their skin brittle. This can lead to slight nicks from the sharp objects they work with opening wounds that put them at risk of infection from blood borne viruses like hepatitis and HIV – especially if their clients also have an open wound.
HSE reports that technicians encountering a client with an open wound – be it from the nail procedure going awry or otherwise – will typically aim to stop the bleed, cover it with a sterile dressing or plaster, then disinfect or sterilise and equipment that had come into contact with the customer.
4. Fungal infections
Wounds aren’t the only infection risk when it comes to nail salon safety. Nail techs can also come into contact with customers who are suffering from fungal infections on their skin and nails. The best way to protect against this is by wearing nitrile gloves, and nail techs should remove fake nails if the nail underneath is showing the tell-tale blue-green hue of a nail infection. At this point, always refer the customer to their GP to get it looked at and treated.
5. Airborne chemicals entering the breathing zone
The last hazard of being a nail technician is the one we’ve based our entire business on. Indeed, it’s the one that led to our entire business being formed in the first place!
It was back in 2010 that our co-founder Poala Taylor-Riddick visited a nail bar and realised she had come away with a headache and feeling of nausea. That set her off on a frenzy of research, looking into the potential dangers of fumes and dusts in beauty salons.
She discovered that some ladies had been diagnosed with cancer or even experienced miscarriages – all because of repeated exposure to the harsh, potentially dangerous chemicals thrown up into a salon’s air by processes like filing and buffing.
At the end of that story is not only the formation of VODEX, but the creation of the SalonAIR® – a specialist local exhaust ventilation (LEV) system built especially for salons, that removes potentially harmful particulates before they can enter the breathing zone.
We believe the SalonAIR® is THE best way to make sure you’re protecting against typical nail tech hazards present in salon fumes, and is one of the most important investments a beauty salon owner can make to keep their business COSHH compliant.
Is your salon set up as safely as possible?
If you need to check the safety of your salon, the best first step is to conduct a COSHH assessment. Need help with that, or understanding how LEV can keep your nail techs and clients safe from dust and fumes? Check out the blogs below or get in touch with us to learn more.
Further Reading
