7 minute read
Guidance for operating your mobile business safely
At present, mobile beauty therapists, nail techs, hairdressers and barbers are unable to work inside clients’ homes in Ireland, as current lockdown guidance does not allow us to enter the homes of others.
Entering someone’s home to deliver a treatment or service presents different issues to working in a salon. In a salon, you can control the environment around you; a salon owner or salon based therapist or hairdresser will know the hygiene routine established to enable a salon to open safely. These procedures, outlined on pages 8 and 9, should be put in place to protect both employees and clients, as well as the wider public. However, when you enter someone’s home, you are not in control of their hygiene practices and so you need to ensure you protect yourself and others. Make sure you allow enough time between appointments to perform all of your hygiene protocols.
Risk Assessment
To keep you and your clients safe, perform a Risk Assessment of the situation so that you can address every risk concerned. The below information will help form part of your Risk Assessment. Once you have this, write a Health and Safety Statement (see page 7), and distribute this to all existing clients to reassure them as well as to clients booking appointments with you.
Client home hygiene
Before entering a client’s home environment, you need to be clear what you expect from your client. Study the salon and spa health and hygiene protocols identified on page 9, such as disinfecting communal areas and the rooms you will be working in, and create a checklist to email to all clients upon booking along with your Health and Safety Statement, asking them to agree to comply. Ask clients to make sure they thoroughly clean anything that you may be required to touch upon arrival such as a gate, door handle, doorbell, handrail etc. A study published in the New England Medical Journal has shown that the COVID-19 virus can survive on hard surfaces for up to 72 hours. Explain that hygiene protocols in the room you are working in and any communal areas you have to pass through are imperative for you and your client’s safety, and that you are unable to visit their home and conduct any treatments unless they are willing to agree to comply. Whilst you cannot be 100% sure that clients have carried out your request, highlighting what you expect them to do will help to make them conscious of what hygiene protocols they should be carrying out. You will also need access to a sink to wash your hands prior to beginning your treatments and upon leaving. Follow government guidance of washing hands in soap and water for 20 seconds.
Make your client aware that they are to be the only person that you come into contact with during your visit. Their children, partners or other household members should not be present in the room when you arrive or are working. If is up to you whether you choose to use a client’s toilet facilities should this aspect of lockdown be lifted; it’s a personal choice but you may wish to carry sanitising wipes to ensure the surfaces you touch are hygienic.
Your professional equipment & treatments
Sterilise your equipment as you would normally using products such as Barbicide ® between client visits, and use disposable tools where possible. Do not share any tools between clients without sterilising them. There are currently no restrictions within ABT’s policy to require use of autoclaves. You are advised to follow good hygiene and all up to date government guidelines. Do not let clients touch any of your products or tools, including samples. If you want to demonstrate a product, you should hold the product bottle yourself and distribute the product onto your client’s hand, or ask your supplier for sample sachets that you can wipe clean before handing to your clients. Any products that travel between client homes should be wiped clean with sanitiser before you visit your next client, such as product bottles and containers, in addition to your carrying equipment, trolly etc. Again, this is because the COVID-19 virus can live on hard surfaces for up 72 hours.
Your Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) & workwear
The PPE you require to use as mobile therapist or hairdresser is similar to that which salons should be using (see page 8), and is very important if you can’t control the hygiene of the environment you are working in. Always have plenty of hand sanitiser with you, and ensure your client sanitises their own hands prior to the
This information is advisory only and has been produced to assist members, it’s by no means exhaustive nor a set of rules that must be followed. You do not need to adhere to all the points within to be insured, quite simply – provided you are operating legally in line with Government and local authority guidelines, the policy will respond to allegations of negligence against the policyholder. The information is based upon opinion, expertise and public knowledge as of 1.6.2020; it has not been issued by the Irish Government (www.gov.ie). Please check the government website for the latest updates and ensure that you are complying with government guidance. This information does not constitute legal requirement. ABT do not incur any liability for this information.
treatment beginning, regardless of whether you will be touching their hands. If they have to leave the room during the treatment, for example to use the toilet, ensure they re-sanitise their hands.
Uniform-wise, you need to ensure that that virus cannot be transferred from home to home via your workwear. This could mean changing your uniform between visiting different locations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend washing clothing at the highest recommended temperature for each garment to ensure any Coronavirus is removed. If you can’t afford to invest in several sets of traditional salon uniforms to change in and out of during a day, a more practical option may be to buy a selection of smart T-shirts and bottoms that can be easily changed in and out of and laundered quickly. In addition, think about your footwear. “I would suggest getting shoe coverings that you can use when going in to other people’s homes,” advises salon owner and educator, Marie-Louise Coster of All About Mi Beauty & Holistic Training. These can be removed when you leave and a new pair of show coverings applied when you reach your next client.
Clients with COVID-19 symptoms
In line with government guidance, anyone displaying COVID-19 systems (see page 3) must self-isolate for at least seven days. If they live with someone displaying COVID-19 symptoms, they’ll usually need to self-isolate for 14 days. In both circumstances, you should not be entering their homes to perform treatments. Under contact tracing systems, if a client who has visited you recently tests positive for COVID-19 and lists you and/or your staff as recent contacts, you will be contacted and instructed what to do next and any further action required. At the time of writing, advice is that individuals will be told to restrict your movements for 14 days from your last contact with the person who tested positive.
COVID-19 and your insurance
If a client claims to have contracted COVID-19 whilst you have visited their home to perform a treatment, provided, as an ABT member, you (the policy holder) are operating legally in line with government and local authority guidelines, your insurance policy will respond to allegations of negligence against you, in the same way as for alleged injuries arising from treatment. The policy covers you against third party claims and allegations of negligently causing accidental bodily injury (which includes illness) in the course of your business. The onus will be on the claimant to prove you were negligent. Any claim will be individually judged by insurers and subject to the full policy terms and conditions. If someone makes an allegation or claim against you, report it immediately to ABT and follow the claims procedure. Balens and ABT will support you in the ‘normal way’ by getting all relevant information together for insurers. Do not admit liability and please refer to your policy document for full claims conditions. Please see the ABT website for full details and check your policy wording ‘ABT Terms of Business’ for full details.
This information is advisory only and has been produced to assist members, it’s by no means exhaustive nor a set of rules that must be followed. You do not need to adhere to all the points within to be insured, quite simply – provided you are operating legally in line with Government and local authority guidelines, the policy will respond to allegations of negligence against the policyholder. The information is based upon opinion, expertise and public knowledge as of 1.6.2020; it has not been issued by the Irish Government (www.gov.ie). Please check the government website for the latest updates and ensure that you are complying with government guidance. This information does not constitute legal requirement. ABT do not incur any liability for this information.
