2009 Advisory Board Meeting Schedule

• March 9, 2009
Hampton Inn Bellingham-Airport
3985 Bennett Drive
Bellingham, WA | 360-676-7700

• May 11, 2009
Hilton Garden Inn
701 North Young Street
Kennewick, WA | (509)735-4600

• July 13, 2009
DoubleTree Hotel
322 North Spokane Falls Court
Spokane, WA | (509) 744-2311

• September 14, 2009
Hilton Garden Inn
401 East Yakima Avenue
Yakima, WA | (509) 454-1111

• November 9, 2009
Homewood Suites Hotel
701 SE Columbia Shores Blvd.
Vancouver, WA | (360) 750-1100

Workshops to Re-Write Laws and Rules

We will be conducting workshops in the afternoon of the Advisory Board meetings and all day long on the dates listed below. Everyone is encouraged to attend and participate in this process.

Dates:
February 9, 2009
April 13, 2009
June 8, 2009
August 10, 2009
Oct. 12, 2009
Location:
Department of Licensing
405 Black Lake Blvd.
Olympia, WA 98502
(360) 664-6643

Numbers in Style

Department of Licensing licensees
Operators 56,621
Personal Service 404
Salons 13,505
Schools 98
Mobile Unit 29

Health & Safety Tip: Sanitation

All locations must have a dispensing sink with hot and cold running water. Dispensing sinks are used for mixing chemicals, and disinfecting supplies, tools, equipment, and other materials. Dispensing sinks must be labeled “not for public use.”
On-site laundry facilities must be maintained in a sanitary condition.
Single-use hand soap and disposable or single use hand-drying towels for customers must be provided.
Use of bar soap or a common towel is prohibited.
Licensees must not work on clients with visible parasites, open wounds, or signs of infection.
Licensees must sanitize and disinfect affected work area if visible parasites, open wounds, or signs of infection are found on a client.
Creams and lotions must be dispensed using a disposable, or sanitized and disinfected applicator, and liquids must be dispensed with a squeeze bottle or pump.
Wash hands with single-use soap and/or hand sanitizer and disposable or single use hand-drying towels after restroom use and before providing service to each client.
Waste containers must be emptied, sanitized and disinfected daily.
After service on each client, hair and nail clippings must immediately be placed in a closed covered container.

Nail Salon Health Hazards

Editor’s Note: The Washington Department of Licensing requested a reprint of this 2001 article taken from the WebMD Health News website as a reminder of the importance of sanitation and disinfection particularly in nail salons. To read the full article visit www.webmd.com/ news/20010504/nail-salon-health-hazards

Customers could wind up with more than a new shade of polish the next time they get a manicure or pedicure. They could also take home a nasty infection. Nail technicians are also in danger if they work on someone who has an infection.

It’s a good reminder that even simple cosmetic procedures carry health risks.

In 2001 a dermatologist in Santa Cruz contacted the county board of health after several patients began showing up at her office with similar, treatment-resistant skin abscesses or boils on their lower legs. She told officials that all five people had recently had a pedicure in one of the whirlpool foot bath chairs at a single salon. These recliner-type chairs have an integral footbath with re-circulating water that reaches to just below the patron’s knees.

The county called in Kevin L. Winthrop, MD, a CDC medical epidemiologist with the State of California Department of Health Services, to investigate. “We visited the salon, reviewed and watched the procedure, and took cultures of the [sick] women’s legs and the foot bath filter screens,” he tells WebMD. The screens had never been removed for cleaning, and tremendous amounts of hair, skin, and organic debris had built up.

Laboratory tests revealed massive amounts of the same unusual microbe Mycobacterium fortuitum in both the filter screens and patients’ sores. It is a common bug normally found in quantities too small to be problematic.

“That sealed it and told us the source of the infection,” says Winthrop. The salon owners closed the shop voluntarily.”

Winthrop calls the situation “very unusual.” The vast amount of organic debris in the poorly maintained spa chairs provided “a breeding ground for microorganisms.” Even occasional cleaning would have prevented the outbreak. But with no specific laws and only vague manufacturer’s guidelines for maintaining the chairs, the salon owners had never anticipated a problem.

And those portable, self-contained, footbaths normally used for pedicures? Because they are easily emptied and cleaned between clients, they are unlikely to harbor dangerous levels of bacteria, says Winthrop.

So, chances are you will not contract a horrific infection like the one that hit in Santa Cruz. But don’t get too comfortable. There are other dangers lurking.

“The biggest problem is what’s known as nail fungus. It’s a communicable disease,” says Ollie Pendley, first vice president of the National-Interstate Council of State Boards of Cosmetology. “Another is ringworm. Also, both the drills that are sometimes used, and cuticle pushing can damage the matrix of the nail, causing permanent loss or deformity,” she tells WebMD.

Pendley, a licensed master cosmetologist, is a retired cosmetology instructor for the Georgia State Public School System, and an educational consultant in cosmetology. She lives in Lithia Springs, Ga.

Licensed nail technicians are trained to identify skin conditions and diseases, and to know which are communicable and thus unsafe to work on. “If and when we recognize a disorder that needs to be seen by medical experts, our responsibility is to suggest that the client sees a doctor for treatment. There’s not a law, per se, but it’s the ethics taught in their training.”

Before you let technicians touch you, says Pendley, “ask to see their license. Is the name on the license [that of] the person sitting in the chair?”

As soon as you enter a salon, let your senses tip you off to potential problems, the experts tell WebMD. While you wait, watch to see what each technician does between customers.

“Eyeball around and look at the cleanliness. If there’s a lot of dust and nail debris, they haven’t cleaned,” says Pendley. “They are supposed to completely clear everything off of the table and sanitize their hands between clients. Make sure all implements are completely submerged in a hospital-grade disinfectant, and are lifted out with a pair of tongs.”

According to Goldstene, “disposable items such as nonmetal supplies like toe spreaders and emery boards cannot be disinfected, so new ones should be used for each customer.” That’s not a suggestion, he says, “that’s existing law.”

We can all benefit from following these suggestions, says Goldstene, but for some of us, it’s really crucial. “Diabetics in particular have special health concerns that they should disclose [to the technician]. Because of circulatory problems [that many diabetics have], any infections would be potentially more serious.”

If you’re uncomfortable for any reason, “don’t be afraid to walk out,” says Goldstene, “even if you had an appointment.” And don’t hesitate to report your experience to the authorities. “We absolutely want consumers to call us if they ever have a question or complaint,” he says.

Pendley concurs. “Consumers should take responsibility, and if something doesn’t look right, speak up. If you’re too shy, you can write directly to the state board of cosmetology. You can find them on the Internet, or call your state capital for the number.”

Cosmetology, Barbering, Esthetics and Manicuring Advisory Board
State of Washington, Dept. of Licensing
P.O. Box 9048, Olympia • Washington 98507
(360) 664-6626 • email: plssunit@dol.wa.gov
www.dol.wa.gov/business/cosmetology

Staff Members:
Director — Liz Luce
Administrator — Trudie Touchette
Assistant Administrator — Susan Colard
Administrative Assistant - Lawna Knight

Board Members:
Chair, Anne Martin
Vice Chair, Sylvia Garcia
Larry Geiger
Gary Howse
Janice Hoggatt
James Moran
Kathleen Sather
Mary Tanneberg
Jefff Oslon