‘Be Aware’ of tools at Dubai beauty salons

Dubai - Customers should know their basic rights of being provided with disposable tools and clean towels, and salon visitors can place a complaint at 800900.

To highlight the importance of using safe and disposable tools in beauty salons, Dubai Municipality is launching a new initiative on Sunday.
The ‘Be Aware’ campaign aims to raise awareness about the infections that can be transmitted from unsterilised tools. Customers will also be educated about their basic rights while availling of services at salons, said Health and Safety Department officials at the municipality.
Called ‘Your Beauty and Safety are the Key to your Happiness’, the initiative will run from June 26 to July 2, and will cover both men’s and ladies salons.
“Prevention is better than the cure. If customers are educated about disposable tools, they will protect themselves,” said Marwan Al Mohammed, Director, Health and Safety Department. “While we carry out intensive inspection drives on salons, wrong practices can still occur.”
“Customers should know their basic rights of being provided with disposable tools and clean towels,” said Al Mohammed, urging salon visitors to place a complaint at 800900, if salons did not abide by the rules.
The number of fined salons have reached 1,241, with the total amount of fines exceeding Dh1 million, from January until May in 2016. The main violations included failure to sterilise tools, absence or reuse of disposable items, and poor hygiene standards.
Salons in focus during Eid
Inspection drives will be carried out at salons between June 26 until Eid season, given the increased visits during this time. “Women also tend to take children to the salons during Eid, and they could be under risk or harm or infection,” Al Mohammed said.
The initiative is part of an annual event that targets salons, but this year, the scope has been widened to reach out to members of the public.
Throughout the ‘Be Aware’ initiative, leaflets and posters of customer rights will also be distributed and put up in over 600 men’s and ladies’ salons in Dubai. The Department will also operate stands in malls, Union Co-op branches, and Bur Dubai and and Deira branches of Aswaq supermarkets, daily from 9am to 11am. Visitors will receive packages of disposable tools, brochures, and a two-question survey that measures awareness of the importance of using disposable items.
The initiative will continue after Ramadan, taking place at students, malls and petrol station visitors, thus reaching out to the public.
sherouk@khaleejtimes.com