Age awareness
You may have read or heard of the recent news articles reporting on the tanning shop owner who was ordered to pay nearly £3000 by magistrates for selling sunbed sessions to a minor. Magistrates convicted the owner of two offences under the Sunbeds (Regulations) Act 2010 and another eight offences under the Sunbeds (Regulation) Act (Wales) Regulations 2011. The 15-year-old teenager bought the session as part of an operation by the local authorities’ Trading Standards department, and it has been stated that conducting test purchases has proven to be very effective in holding the small minority of salon owners that fail to adhere to the legislation to account.
The story has highlighted to many members of our industry that there is still a lot to do to raise awareness of the Acts and how, despite being nearly 3 years on, there are still some salon owners who have failed to adhere to their responsibilities. As distributors, we at Bliss take our own role as a supplier very seriously and accept that promoting safe sunbed usage is one of our fundamental responsibilities. We offer free accredited training courses that run throughout the year (please see our Training page for further details and dates) where we discuss the implications of the Acts and advice on how to operate your business legally.
Bliss carry a selection of client record cards that prompt the customer to confirm their age, which doesn't provide full protection but does act as a disclaimer and highlight the age requirement.
The Bliss team is here to help and if you need any further advice please give one of the team a call.