The salon industry can be tough. There are all kinds of hazards that you could face in your day-to-day work. From working with chemicals to using hot tools, there are hazards that may result in serious injuries to workers.
Burn injuries are common in salons. Burns may happen in several ways, such as by:
- Touching hot dryers
- Touching curling irons or hair straighteners
- Using water that is too hot
- Chemical exposure
Here are a few examples of situations that could lead to burns. In one, a hair stylist gets distracted by a phone call and sets down a hot iron. When they come back to work with the client, they reach down for the tool forgetting that they’d already plugged it in. Grabbing it, they suffer serious burns to their hand.
Another example could include if the salon worker is exposed to bleach in the workplace. While most stylists use gloves to avoid skin contact, coming into contact with bleach regularly may result in chemical burns as it processes on the skin. Long-term effects could include light spots or patches on the skin.
Breathing in fumes from chemicals may burn the lungs, too, which is why it’s always important to have good ventilation in any salon setting.
How can you avoid burns in the cosmetology industry?
If you want to avoid burns, it’s important to put safety procedures into place. That includes using silicon protectors on hot tools, replacing broken hot tools and setting tools to the lowest setting possible for a particular technique.
Know your chemicals, too. Be familiar with the chemicals used in the workplace, like bleach, and avoid using chemicals that could interact badly with it. Any spills should be cleaned up immediately, and fumes should be aired out as soon as possible.
Get help if you’ve been burned on the job
If you suffer from burns on the job and are employed by the salon owner, remember that you can seek workers’ compensation. This compensation may help you seek the medical care you need at no cost to yourself, so you can focus on your health and wellbeing.