Public Health Requirements for Personal Service Settings

Public Health Services
Call 905-546-2063 or
Email [email protected]

Personal Service Settings Changes
Are you planning on:
- Opening a new personal service setting?
- Renovating or changing services offered at your personal service setting?
You must notify Public Health Services at 905-546-2063
Beauty and body art are referred to as “personal services” and places that offer these services are called Personal Services Settings (PSS).
Personal Service Settings for beauty and body art include:
- Hair salons and barbers
- Tattoo studios
- Body piercing shops
- Places that provide ear piercing, manicures, pedicures, facials, waxing, electrolysis and/or permanent make-up services
General Requirements for Personal Service Settings (PSS)
Public health requirements for personal service settings are in place to protect the operator and client’s health. It is important that proper infection control practices are followed at all times to reduce the risk of infections such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV, as well as other bacterial and fungal infections. You do not have to see blood or body fluids on equipment or surfaces for infections to spread.
Under the regulation, owners/operators of a personal service setting must provide notice if they are:
- Intending to operate a new PSS
- Expanding the services offered at your PSS
- Reconstruct or renovate your existing PSS (beyond routine maintenance)
It is prohibited to sell, offer for sale or provide at a PSS:
- Ear candling or coning; and
- Any personal service involving live aquatic species (e.g. fish pedicures)
Under the Health Protection & Promotion Act, scleral tattooing or implantation of eye jewellery under the conjunctiva is prohibited.
This video reviews general requirements from the Ontario Regulation 136/18: Personal Service Settings.
Public Health Inspections
During an inspection, the inspector will observe your practices, check your equipment and premises to make sure that the requirements outlined in the Personal Service Settings regulation are met and infection prevention and control practices are followed.
Public health inspectors check personal services settings for:
- cleaning, disinfection and sterilization of equipment
- maintenance of the facility
- follow-up on a complaint received by Public Health
The premise or shop must have at least one sink for hand washing and cleaning instruments.
The same sink can be used for hand washing and instrument cleaning if the sink meets these other requirements:
- Be near the work area
- Have hot and cold running water, liquid soap in a dispenser and single-use hand towels at all times.
- Always be available for hand washing while working on clients.
- Be able to hold the largest instrument that needs cleaning
- Not be shared by more than one premise or shop
Hands must be washed before starting a procedure, after finishing and in between any breaks in a procedure. A 70% alcohol-based hand rub can be used when hands are not visibly dirty.
Gloves should be worn when performing invasive procedures; when there is contact with blood, body fluids or broken skin such as a cut; and when the worker has non-intact skin on their hands.
General rules for cleaning and disinfecting instruments and work areas used for beauty and body art services include:
- The work area must be clean, tidy and well lit.
- Using a detergent and water solution to scrub instruments and the work area clean.
- All product labels for disinfectants must have and expiry date and a drug identification number, or DIN, with the exception of hypochlorite.
- Cleaning and disinfecting instruments immediately after they are used.
- When you cannot clean instruments immediately after use, soak them in water and detergent until they can be cleaned properly.
- Discarding or cleaning and disinfecting/sterilizing any instrument that was touched or handled during a procedure because it could be contaminated.
- Cleaning and disinfecting work surfaces such as tables, equipment trays, magnifying lamps and spray bottles after each client or cover them with a single-use disposable cover and change after each client.
- Using single-use applicators to dispense products onto a client’s skin. Do not ‘double dip’.
- Disposing of anything that cannot be cleaned such as bibs, elastic bands and covers immediately after use.
- Removing any items not required from the work area.
- Storing reusable tools in a clean, covered container when not in use. Clean instruments should be separate from dirty instruments.
- Placing all needles, razors or other sharps into an approved sharps container immediately after use.
- Keeping client and accidental blood and body fluids exposure records for a minimum of one year on-site. All client records must be kept for at least five years.
Specific Personal Services
City of Hamilton Public Health Services works with owners and operators to ensure that services offered are done in a safe and sanitary manner with a goal to prevent transmission of infections.