Beauty
Is your salon safe?
Mona Gonzalez investigates.
When my editor told me to "find out how safe beauty salons are," Kat, my 12-year-old daughter, provided the perfect cover for the assignment.
"I need a haircut," Kat said. So we headed to a salon called Ystilo in Parañaque City. I began my sleuthing while Kat's hair was being shampooed. I spotted a contraption resembling a microwave oven.
"What's that?" I asked Ramon, who was doing my daughter's hair.
"That's a sanitizer. We use it to sterilize all our combs and brushes."
"We clean them after every use, too."
As Ramon snipped at Kat's hair, I noticed several rolls of neatly rolled black and white towels on a shelf.
"Why do you need so many?" I asked Ramon.
"Because we use a fresh towel for each customer. We wash the towels after every use."
"What?" I said, feigning surprise. Surely, I told Ramon, the clients wouldn't notice if a towel had been used more than once. He said such stringent standards were necessary.
At that point, a woman sat beside me and struck up a conversation. She was the salon manager.
"Why don't you relax your sanitation standards a bit?" I asked, dangling the bait. "I'm sure no one will catch you at it."
"We have to comply with Department of Health standards, we are checked every 6 months," the manager said. Ramon explained that parlor workers are required to undergo a health exam twice a year. "That's the only way City Hall will renew our license."
HEALTH AND SANITATION REQUIREMENTS
The next step of my investigation took me to the Division for Sanitation of the Parañaque City Hall. I wanted to find out the health and sanitation requirements for beauty parlors. Page 22, chapter 12 of a booklet titled "Code on Sanitation of the Philippines" states three requirements: a sanitary permit from the local health authority, a clean and sanitary establishment and a health certificate issued by the local health authority for every salon employee.
The section on Sanitary Practices enumerates the following guidelines:
1. Personnel must wash their hands with soap and water before servicing customers. They must wear clean working garments.
2. Smoking and eating while working are not allowed.
3. Implements must be cleaned and disinfected before and after every use.
4. Towels must be clean and fresh for each customer.
5. Precautionary measures must be taken when serving customers showing any symptoms of skin disease.
Local health authorities conduct regular inspections of beauty salons to check sanitation, water supply, lighting and dividing walls, among others. Frequency of inspections varies depending on parlor classification. Class A parlors are inspected every 2 to 3 months, while Class B and C parlors are inspected every month.
Ramon was telling the truth - the city government indeed requires parlor workers to undergo a health examination twice a year, in which a chest x-ray is done and stool and urine samples are collected.
KEEP A WATCHFUL EYE
There are inherent health and safety risks in anything you do, and anywhere you go - even in beauty parlors.
However, between the standards and requirements of the health department and City Hall, I would say that the risks have been kept at a safe minimum. There is no way, of course, of knowing whether your parlor adheres 100 percent to government requirements. But in making your own determination, it helps to keep a watchful eye, and to use your common sense.
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