The Hindu : New Delhi News : Beauty salons neglecting hygiene?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 25, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Beauty salons neglecting hygiene?

NEW DELHI, JUNE 24 . The fast mushrooming beauty and fashion industry is exploiting natural instincts to look smart and beautiful. But in the absence of any regulatory mechanism, often the basic standards of sanitation and hygiene are overlooked, caution health experts.

Inspite of the grave health risks posed by these salons, no monitoring agency exists so far. ``There is no registration process involved whatsoever for those aspiring to start beauty salons, apart from applying under the Shop and Establishment Act,'' says an executive of an ISO 9001, Beauty and Slimming centre.

Corroborating this statement further is Ritika Bijlani, who owns a beauty parlour in East Delhi. ``I am not aware of any registration process to establish beauty parlours. And there were no inspections by any governing body to see how we operate''.

However all this is set to change with the beauty parlour coming under the scanner of government authorities.

``The registration and license numbers of these units are now being worked out so as to keep a tab on them,'' says Dr V N Reu, Licensing Department, NDMC.

There is no harm in increasing number of parlours as long as they conform to basic health norms, Dr Reu says adding that the guidelines will come into force next year.

Mukesh Luthra of an ISO 9001 beauty chain, hopes that this move will act as a deterrent to dubious beauty parlours.

As of today, most of the parlours do not have qualified staff, with most of the so-called beauticians getting on-the-job training.

At unhygienic beauty parlours one runs the risk of bacterial infections. There is also a high chance of infection if unsterilised instruments are used upon one person immediately after it has been used on a person with infection.

Addressing the issue, Dr S C Bharija, Consultant Dermatologist, Gangaram Hospital says that beauty treatment at unhygienic parlours might lead to medical complications.

Using dubious beauty products gives rise to problems of risk in rashes, he adds.

The rashes might range between severe reaction to mild irritation.

Skin tone has to be taken into account before any beauty reatment, Dr Bharija says pointing out that using oily cosmetics block the pores giving rise to acne type eruption.

Inocuous instruments like nail-cutters, scissors or combs can collect a variety of germs, Dr Bharija cautions, when they are used from one person to the other without proper sanitation.

Very few salons in India adopt high standards of hygiene as compared to the west. One of the reasons could be that the latest hygiene technology is still very expensive and some equipment has to be imported. So they skip the expense and put the clients at peril, say experts.

In absence of regulating mechanism, most of the big salons are therefore opting for international certifications like ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and Social Accountability 8000.

The ISO 9001 is awarded to centres working in the area of beauty treatment, whereas Social Accountability certificate is given in recognition of providing a proper working environment to its employees.

The big players in this industry are also going for JVP Profile, a certificate of excellence which authenticates a company's beauty product. - PTI

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