Personal Protective Equipment for Nail Care Technicians

Beauty Care/ Nail Care Services NCII

Second Sem. Quarter 3

Activity Sheet No. 5

Name: ____________________ Year and Sec: _______________ Date: __________________

I. Introductory Concept

Working in a glam nail salon may seem like it poses minimal safety risks. However, it’s a profession that involves more hazards than you might realize. All the polishing, gluing, and disinfecting can create chemical fumes that pose a serious risk to your health. Likewise, the way you position your body when working can threaten your physical wellbeing, and you may even face fire and infection risks.

In this lesson we will learn about practice occupational health and safety procedures in Nail Salons.

II. Learning Competency

LESSON 3: PRACTICE OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY PROCEDURES (OS)

LO 1. Keep workplace clean.

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Learning Objectives:

The learners must be able to:

Demonstrate understanding in practicing occupational health and safety procedure in Nail Care Services.

Information Sheet:

Personal Protective Equipment for Nail Care Technicians

A properly fitted N-95 or N-100 respirator, approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, for each individual who uses the workstation. All workers must use these respirators when buffing or filing nails or when using acrylic powder.

Protective gloves made of nitrile, or another similar non-permeable material for workers with sensitivity to nitrile gloves. You must have a sufficient number of gloves available so that each nail technician can use a new pair of gloves for each customer. All workers must wear these gloves when handling potentially hazardous chemicals or waste and during cleanup, or when performing any nail service that has a risk of breaking the customer’s skin.
Protective eye equipment. All workers must wear eye protection when preparing, transferring, or pouring potentially hazardous chemicals.
Apron must be used when doing nail care service.

OHS Workplace Regulation

Nail Salon Health Risks

The risks you may face in a nail salon are not only significant due to the severity of health problems they can cause. They are also unseen, meaning you could be filing and painting nails day after day without even realizing you’re vulnerable. Plus, they affect you gradually over time. This is why safety measures are so vital.

There are three main types of nail salon hazards:

1. Chemical Hazards

Salon staff constantly work directly with and around hazardous substances:

Nail polish, artificial nails, primers, fingernail glue, polish remover, and more.
Filing nails creates dust that can be harmful to inhale.
Disinfecting chemicals.
Cloths, cushions, cotton balls, and other fabrics soaked in cleaning chemicals or glue remover.

These hazards pose serious risks to staff’s health and safety:

Inhalation of chemicals or dust can lead to irritation, headaches, dizziness, sickness, occupational asthma, or even cancer.
Ingestion can cause throat irritation and illness.
Direct contact with the skin or eyes can cause irritation, rashes, or occupational eczema and dermatitis.
Poorly handled waste chemicals and fabrics continue to spread fumes and pose a fire hazard.

Some of these issues are minor and manageable, like irritations and headaches, while others are debilitating and irreversible, such as occupational asthma or cancer. They can also exacerbate existing health issues, including asthma and eczema.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking these are just ‘hazards that come with the job’. The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations require all workplaces to protect their staff from harmful substances used for work activities.

2. Ergonomic risks

Many salon workers adopt a poor posture to carry out their job. They may lean over and rest their arms on the desk, which strains their back and applies harmful pressure to contact points on their arms. Over time, poor ergonomics can lead to bad joints, sore muscles, and even chronic musculoskeletal disorders.

3. Risk of infection

Customers or staff with broken skin or uncovered wounds may allow infections to spread, particularly when they soak their hands or feet in basins. Good hygiene practices can easily prevent the spread of infection.

How to Control Nail Salon Health Risks

Safety measures for minimizing chemical hazards, ergonomic risks, infection risks, and fire hazards are simple to implement and follow. They ensure your nail salon complies with COSHH regulations and keeps everyone safe and in good health.

Safety measures for controlling hazardous chemicals:

Know the chemicals you use. You can learn this by reading Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), which should accompany all the products in your salon that contain dangerous chemicals. MSDS tell you how to minimize risks for the specific types of chemicals in the products you use.
Ventilate the workspace. Throughout the day, fumes will build up in the room. Use a downdraught table to remove harmful chemicals and open windows to let in more fresh air. If ventilation vents and windows are near each other, make sure staff work away from the window, as this allows fresh air to circulate the room properly.
Store chemicals safely. Everyone should follow the storage instructions stated by the products they use. They should store them away from heat sources in well-ventilated storage areas, keep bottles closed when they are not using them, and avoid storing more products in the salon than they need.
Good housekeeping. Staff should clean up chemical spillages right away and do so safely. They must also safely dispose of materials used to clean spillages, as well as cotton balls and other fabrics soaked in chemicals. This type of waste should go in a lined, lidded bin.
Personal protective equipment. Staff should wear protective gloves to minimize chemical exposure to skin. Nitrile gloves offer the best protection, so avoid latex or vinyl. Note that dust masks are not an acceptable control measure for hazardous chemicals.
Health surveillance. An occupational health professional should monitor the health of staff who work around chemicals for a significant part of their day.

Controlling chemical hazards will minimize health risks associated with inhalation and physical contact, as well as fire risk

Safety measures for ergonomic hazards:

Staff should sit up straight and keep their arms supported by a cushion or pad on the table.
They should use an adjustable chair that supports their lower back. Feet should lay flat on the floor without straining the thighs.
Use a cushion or other means to prop up the customer’s hand or foot to prevent staff from leaning forward.
Staff should take regular breaks between customers to stretch.

Avoiding musculoskeletal strain is straightforward, so long as staff consistently maintain a good

posture and improve their working space.

Safety measures for preventing infections:

Staff should wear gloves at all times and dispose of them after each customer.
Cover wounds with plasters.
Avoid touching blood or bodily fluids. If staff need to clean these up, they must wear their gloves and dispose of them safely afterwards.
Thoroughly disinfect tools, worktables, and basins after each customer.

You can easily prevent the spread of infections in your nail salon if you follow these good hygiene practice

Salon staff who understand the importance of all these safety measures and follow them diligently will keep themselves and customers free from harm.

III. Activities

General Directions: Read and understand the directions for each activity. Answer by writing DIRECTLY on the activity sheet.

A. Read and study applying hand treatment in the information sheet provided.

Information sheet is also available in the following site:

Lesson video is also available in YouTube

1. Protective outfit for Nail Care

2. OHS workplace regulations

3. Hazards and risks in beauty salons

4. How to Control Nail Salon Health Risks

B. Identification

1. The Personal Protective Equipment used by nail technician when buffing or filing nails or when using acrylic powder.

2. The Personal Protective Equipment used by nail technician when preparing, transferring, or pouring potentially hazardous chemicals.

3-5. These are the 3 main types of Nail Salon hazards.

C. Wear your Personal Protective Equipment.

Take a photo of you wearing the PPE. Label the photo with the name and purpose of each PPE then send the photo to our FB group. T.V.L. Home Economics II.

D. Answer the following questions:

1. Why is it important to wear PPE in the Nail Salon?

2. What will happen if you will not use PPE in the Salon? What will be the effect of this to your business?

IV. Rubrics

Checklist

1. The student showed complete PPE for nail care technician. ________

2. The student labelled all the PPE with correct names. ________

3. The student identified the purpose of each PPE. _________

4. The student submitted the output on time. ________

5. The photo was clear and properly labelled. ________

V. References:

PPE