• Hairdressing, nail and beauty industry hazards
  • Hazardous substances
  • Electrical equipment
  • Manual tasks
  • Plant
  • Biological hazards
  • Personal safety and security
  • Latex
  • Radiation hazards
  • Noise and vibration
  • Amenities
• Appendix 1
• Appendix 2
• Appendix 3
• Appendix 4
• Appendix 5
• Appendix 6

• Personal protective equipment (PPE)
• Risk management

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Hazardous substances

Some health effects from exposure to hazardous substances
Control measures

Workers in the hairdressing, nail and beauty industry may be exposed to a wide range of products containing hazardous substances, including:

• hair dyes
• bleaches
• permanent wave solutions
• shampoos
• hair styling agents
• nail and skin care products
• straighteners
• brow and lash tints
• chemical peels
• peroxides
• wax solvents
• disinfectants and cleaning products

Exposure to some of these chemicals can increase the risk of various health problems. Some of these are explained in the table below.

Some health effects from exposure to hazardous substances

Dermatitis (a general term meaning inflammation of the skin) There are two types of dermatitis. Irritant contact dermatitis results from contact with irritant substances, such as water and detergents in shampoo. Allergic contact dermatitis occurs when a person develops an allergic response to a chemical.

Asthma (a respiratory disease, which narrows the air passages and results in breathing difficulties) Chemicals used in the hairdressing, nail and beauty industry may aggravate pre-existing asthma or cause occupational asthma.

Cancer Workers in the hairdressing, nail and beauty industry may be exposed to chemicals that are suspected of causing cancer. There is limited and inconsistent data to support this.

Hazardous substances can enter the body through the skin, by inhalation or by swallowing. Acute health effects, such as eye and throat irritation, may occur almost immediately. Chronic health effects, such as allergic contact dermatitis, take some time to develop.

The likelihood of a hazardous substance causing health effects depends on a number of factors, including:

• the toxicity of the substance
• the amount of substance that workers are exposed to
• the length of exposure
• the frequency of exposure
• the route of entry into the body, e.g. skin absorption, inhalation or ingestion

You can determine whether a product is a hazardous substance by reading its label and material safety data sheet (MSDS). If you are unsure contact your supplier.

MSDS

An MSDS provides information about ingredients, potential health effects, safe use, first aid and storage of the hazardous substance.

You are required to:

• keep a register containing a list of all hazardous substances used at your workplace and the current MSDS for each substance
• obtain a copy from your supplier if it was not supplied with the first order
• keep a copy of the MSDS close to where the hazardous substance is being used

Labels

Each container of a hazardous substance must have a label attached to it. The label must be in English and state the product name, risk and safety phrases. The label may also state the ingredient's chemical name.

If a hazardous substance is transferred from one container into a second container, and the substance is not entirely used immediately, you must ensure that the second container is properly labelled. Chemicals must not be decanted into a food or beverage container.

If the contents of a container are unknown, it should be labelled:

CAUTION DO NOT USE UNKNOWN SUBSTANCE

Store all unknown substances in isolation until its contents can be identified and properly labelled. If the substance can not be identified, dispose of it. You should contact the Environmental Protection Agency for advice on disposal requirements.

Risk assessment

You are required to:

• assess the risk to the health of yourself or a worker from the use of a hazardous substance
• do another risk assessment every five years or when information or work practices or control measures are changed or introduced
• keep a record about the risk assessment

More information and a sample risk assessment are found in appendix 3. The hazardous substances risk assessment checklist in appendix 4 will help you to conduct your risk assessment.

Controlling exposure

If a risk assessment shows that you or a worker may be exposed to a hazardous substance, you must prevent the exposure or reduce it as much as possible. Where there is airborne exposure, you must control exposure so that the relevant national exposure standard for that substance is not exceeded.

Ventilation

Work involving hazardous substances, such as perming, hair colouring and the application of artificial nails, should occur in a well-ventilated area.

Natural ventilation generally does not provide sufficient airflow to be suitable for use as a method for controlling exposure to airborne contaminants, such as chemical vapours, mists and dusts, in hairdressing, nail and beauty salons.

Air conditioning dilutes the contaminated air rather than removing it, and circulates airborne contaminants around the room. Unless there is uniform airflow, it is likely that pockets of air will remain contaminated for long periods.

Local exhaust ventilation is a more reliable means for removing airborne contaminants at the source, before they can be breathed in. Care must be taken to ensure the system draws contaminated air away from, rather than past a person's nose and mouth.

Workplace air quality checklist

• Do strong odours linger for more than 10 minutes?
• Can strong odours be detected at a distance from the source (ie the other side of the room)?
• Do you still smell product odours when you open the salon in the morning?
• Do the walls ever 'sweat' with moisture or the windows become foggy?
• Do clients complain of offensive odours?
• Do you ever have to open the window or door because the odours become too strong?

If you answered yes to one or more of the above questions, the ventilation at your workplace could need improvement.

Control measures

Substitution

• Replace a substance with an alternative product that contains a less hazardous substance. Health information found in an MSDS may assist in the selection of a less hazardous substance.
• Replace pressurised aerosol containers, with pump sprays, e.g. pressurised wrap catalyst, hairsprays.

Redesign

• Make sure there is good ventilation so that exposure to airborne contaminants can be prevented or minimised, e.g. local exhaust ventilation.
• Protect against eye splash by installing splash shields in areas where chemicals are mixed.

Administrative controls

• Make sure MSDSs are available for all chemicals used in the salon.
• Make sure workers are provided with suitable information, training and supervision on the safe use of chemicals and PPE (personal protective equipment).
• Store chemicals away from energy sources, such as fuse boxes, naked flames, heat and intense light sources.
• Store flammable chemicals in a cool place in a securely locked fireproof cabinet.
• Make sure chemicals are out of reach for children.
• Make sure procedures are in place for the clean up of spills using a suitable absorbent material. Refer to the MSDS.
• Clean up chemical spills promptly.
• Make sure that spilled chemicals and equipment used for chemical clean up are disposed of appropriately. Contact the Environmental Protection Agency for further advice.
• Purchase chemicals in ready-to-use packages rather than transferring from large containers.
• Do not eat, drink or smoke in areas that contain chemicals.
• Wash hands with a pH neutral soap or barrier cream before eating, drinking or smoking.

Personal protective equipment

• Provide gloves, glasses, aprons and respiratory protection as required by your hazardous substances risk assessment. Guidance can be found in the MSDS.
• Provide workers with training on the fit, maintenance and use of personal protective equipment.
• Make sure workers apply barrier creams on exposed skin areas if bothered by skin irritation.
• Make sure workers cover broken skin with a waterproof dressing.
• Make sure workers wear eye protection and covered shoes to protect against chemical splashes.
• Other control measures apply specifically to each industry.

Hairdressing Industry

Many products used in hairdressing salons are classed as hazardous substances. Some products, such as shampoos, are not classified as 'hazardous' but may still cause adverse health effects such as dermatitis.

Specific control measures - hairdressing

• Do not use products that are known to contribute to dermatitis or cause sensitisation, such as:
  • formaldehyde/formalin (present in low concentration in some shampoos as a preservative)
  • p-phenylene diamine and paratoluene diamine (present in some hair colours and tints - also known as PPD and PTD)
  • glycerol monothioglycolate (present in some 'acid' permanent wave solutions - also known as GMTG)
  • thioglycolic acid (present in some hair straighteners)
• Do not use nickel-plated equipment with permanent wave solutions containing ammonium thioglycolate. Use high quality stainless steel or plastic equipment.

Nail Industry

Both ethyl methacrylate (EMA) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) have been used as an ingredient in artificial nail products. These chemicals can exist as a monomer (nail liquid) and polymer (nail powder).

MMA monomer (nail liquid) is considered too dangerous for use in the beauty industry as it causes too many adverse health effects. These include:

• allergic contact dermatitis
• permanent loss of the nail plate
• loss of sensation in the fingertips

These health problems do not apply to the use of MMA polymer (nail powder). EMA is also considered a safer alternative to MMA monomer, as it is less likely to cause allergic reactions and damage nail plates.

Checklist to identify whether a product contains MMA monomer

• Is MMA listed as an ingredient on the MSDS and label?
• Does the product have an unusually strong or strange odour that does not smell like other acrylic liquids?
• Does the product seem to set much harder and feel less flexible than other products?
• Are the nail extensions extremely hard and very difficult to file, even with coarse abrasives?
• Do the nail extensions not soak off in solvents designed to remove acrylics?

Specific control measures - nail industry

• Do not use products containing liquid methyl methacrylate (MMA) monomer.
• Provide a transparent screen between the nails being clipped and the eyes of the worker and client to reduce the risk of eye injury.
• Make sure low/no odour nail products are used with good ventilation. Vapours from these products can build up in the salon without being noticed.
• Make sure workers use dispenser bottles with small openings (only large enough for an application brush to enter) and pressure sensitive stoppers to reduce the amount of evaporation of nail liquid.
• Make sure workers use only the required amount of nail liquid and pour it into a closed dispenser bottle.
• Make sure workers close product containers immediately after use.
• Make sure workers use a dappen dish with a hole in the lid for volatile chemicals. Put a small marble over the hole to prevent evaporation.
• Make sure workers do not clean dirty brushes on table towel - use absorbent paper towel. 
• Dispose of paper towel and other waste materials in a sealed bin. Remove waste from bin several times a day to minimise exposure to vapours.
• Make sure workers do not smoke or allow clients to smoke while working, as many products are highly flammable.
• Make sure oil burners are not used near nail products.
• Make sure workers wear dust masks when filing acrylic nails for protection against dust. (Note: dust masks do not provide protection against chemical vapours.)
• Make sure workers wear eye protection where there is a risk of chemical splashes to the eye or nail clippings, acrylic dusts and acrylic shards entering the eye.
• Wear safety goggles or glasses over contact lenses or replace contact lenses with prescriptive safety glasses with side protection.

Beauty Therapy

Beauty therapists use a variety of products that contain hazardous substances. These products include:

• chemical peels, e.g. retin-A, alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs), beta hydroxy acids (BHAs)
• peroxides (mixed with eyelash and eyebrow tints)
• wax solvents
• methylated spirits
• turpentine
• essential oils

In most cases, the concentration of hazardous substances in these products does not classify the product as hazardous for regulatory purposes. Workers with pre-existing skin conditions may need to take particular care when using these products.

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