Cutting out dermatitis

Published by webmaster for Chesterfield Borough Council in Communities

There are around 130,000 hairdressers in the UK of whom about 50% are at risk from a potentially career threatening skin condition - dermatitis. With nearly 340 million of us visiting a hairdresser each year what is the price hairdressers could pay for beauty?

The first National Hairdressers Day on 21 November saw the launch of a Bad Hand Day campaign aimed at encouraging hairdressers to ‘glove up’ and protect their hands.

The campaign is being launched by Local Authorities and The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), who jointly enforce health and safety in workplaces, in partnership with Habia (The Hair and Beauty Industry Authority) and the National Hair Federation.

Wearing gloves can prevent dermatitis but a majority of hairdressers believe their clients do not want them to wear gloves. Work-related dermatitis amongst hairdressers can be caused by exposure to products like shampoo or colours and even by prolonged periods of wet-work .It is an unpleasant and often painful, inflammatory condition of the skin, mostly affecting the hands.

Prevention is simple: by wearing disposable non-latex gloves for shampooing, colouring, bleaching and rinsing to protect their skin from damage and regularly applying skin moisturiser during the work day.

Some of Chesterfield’s Hair Salons have shown their commitment to cutting out this disease in their salons by being awarded a Health and Safety award (see picture). The award was promoted by Chesterfield Borough Council’s Health and Safety Team during inspections over the last few months in conjunction with Habia, Chesterfield College and Chesterfield PCT.

Commenting on the Bad Hand Day campaign, Chesterfield Borough Councillor Keith Morgan, Lead Member for Sustainability and Environmental Services, said: “Dermatitis doesn’t just ruin skin, it can ruin businesses too, that’s why the Bad Hand Day Campaign is aiming to tackle this industry-wide problem. Salon managers spend up to £1,250 training a single member of staff, it is therefore crucial that they do not lose employees to something easily avoidable like dermatitis. 

“With salon start-up costs ranging from £10,000 to £20,000 businesses may need to make savings wherever they can, however, with non-latex gloves costing as little as 10p a pair when the average spend per customer is £35, providing staff with the protection they need, compared with the costs of staff absences, shouldn’t break the bank”.

Ends

Press release issued: November 21 2006