You might be in for a new look when you return to your neighborhood barbershop or hair salon
Masked stylists. Sanitizing stations. Few customers, with several chairs between them.
Your local salon or barbershop will likely look different once it reopens under the state’s new, pandemic-inspired cosmetology guidelines.
Gov. Doug Ducey has given barbershops and salons the green light to resume hair, nail, waxing and other services by appointment as early as today, as he gradually lifts public health measures designed to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Cosmetologists already have health and safety standards they’re required to maintain. But given the impossibility of social distancing in salon and spa settings — try waxing someone’s eyebrows from 6 feet away — state health officials have compiled a list of additional protocols designed to protect both employees and customers.
The governor’s website describes the
guidelines as recommendations, but his statewide stay-at-home order indicates that businesses wanting to stay open during the pandemic “shall” — not should — follow appropriate protocols.
For businesses
The guidelines for cosmetology businesses include:
❚ Providing and requiring employees to wear masks, when possible.
❚ Providing and requiring employees to wear gloves when doing treatments that involve touching customers’ faces, when possible.
❚ Providing soap and water for handwashing or alcohol-based hand sanitizer at stations throughout the site, for both employees and customers.
❚ Requiring employees to wash hands immediately before and after providing services.
❚ Operating at reduced capacity, with “special attention” to limiting areas where customers and employees can congregate.
❚ Wiping any pens, counters, or hard surfaces between uses.
❚ Implementing comprehensive sanitation protocols.
❚ Conducting symptom checks for employees before they begin their shifts.
❚ Arranging waiting areas, service areas, and break rooms to provide for appropriate physical distancing; sanitizing areas regularly.
❚ Training all employees in the above safety actions.
They also say cosmetologists should consider:
❚ Offering cloth face coverings to visitors.
❚ Operating by appointment only to manage occupancy levels.
❚ Posting signs advising customers and employees of expectations and guidance.
❚ Not charging cancellation fees if someone cannot make their appointment due to illness.
For clients
Officials also are advising customers to:
❚ Avoid visiting barbers and cosmetologists if you are at higher risk for COVID-19.
❚ Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.
❚ Use touchless payment options when possible.
❚ If you use a keypad, use hand sanitizer immediately after.
Use sanitizer after leaving your appointment, then wash your hands for at least 20 seconds when you get home.
Some salons going further
Some salons already were briefing customers on new procedures and expectations ahead of reopening on Friday.
Salon D’ Shayn in Phoenix, for instance, emailed customers on Thursday morning saying clients would be required to fill out a client intake form related to COVID-19 before services.
The salon also is closing its waiting room and asking customers to wait in their cars; barring guests, except for children’s haircuts; and having employees change aprons between customers.
“If you feel sick at all, even if you think it could just be a case of bad allergies, possibly just a headache, maybe just a regular cold, please reschedule,” the email from D’Lisa Shayn says. “It is better to be safe than sorry . ... The more proactive we all are, the better off we will all be.”