Beauticians, Skin Piercers and Tattooists Bylaw

Dunedin City Council

Ouch!

If you think the tatt or the leg wax hurts, watch out for the infections. Think staphylococcus and necrotising fasciitis. Horrible diseases can happen if the tattooist, skin piercer or beautician is not careful. Dunedin City Council makes sure they are careful.
You can hear it in her voice – Judy Austin loves diseases. The environmental health inspector at Dunedin City Council is passionate about them, particularly about preventing them. So much so, that she was largely responsible for introducing a bylaw aimed at stopping the transmission of infectious diseases in skin piercing, tattoo and beauty parlours.

The bylaw is highly regarded by other councils across the country, and works in much the same way as do food safety rules in other council jurisdictions. Piercers, tattooists and beauticians must be registered with the council, follow strict rules about hygiene and safety, and be inspected every year to retain their licence.

Without national regulations, why did Dunedin City Council feel it needed to introduce its own bylaw?
“It was a simple decision made by council management,” Judy says. “We saw it as an important health and safety issue for our community, because the risks are huge, and we moved to protect the community.”

The bylaw aims to:

• prevent the transfer of communicable diseases such as hepatitis B and C and HIV/Aids, and skin diseases;
• prevent the risk of local bacterial infections, septicaemia and other local/blood borne infections;
• ensure clean, safe and healthy procedures and risk-free environment;
• reduce the risk of biological disruption from accumulated chemical exposure;
• protect the local environment through proper medical and chemical waste disposal.

Previously, parlour operators were able to work without any guidelines. There were no guarantees that, for example:

• operators knew what they were doing;
• needles were properly sanitised;
• wax rollers were replaced for each client;
• blood, hair and gloves contaminated with tissue or body fluids were not thrown out for general rubbish collection.

Some operators were good, some terrible. Now they all have to be good.

The process began with a bylaw proposal to senior management and council from the environmental health team. With approval, consultation with the community and parlour operators began. A working party was set up, which included council staff, a tattooist and beautician and two skin piercers. Judy began an education campaign for parlour operators and held a workshop. She continues to give presentations to high schools and infection control representative meetings.

There was resistance to the bylaw to begin with, especially because of the cost and maintenance of new equipment, and the need to institute new procedures.

However, four years later, the benefits to the community and to the operators are obvious.

• Local hospitals report fewer admissions caused by procedures such as tongue piercing.
• Clients are now going to Dunedin from neighbouring areas, knowing Dunedin operators are regulated.
• Dunedin is seen as “the place to be” for skin piercers, tattooists and beauticians – about one new operator a month is moving in to the area.
• The Dunedin public has faith in its local operators.

It’s been a win/win/win for the public of Dunedin, the operators and the council.