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Reader to Reader: How do you keep yourself, you employees, and you salon safe?

May 1, 2002

As a nail instructor I teach my students about universal sanitation: the use of gloves, safety glasses, disinfectants, detergents, personal hygiene, salon cleanliness, and following state board rules and regulations.-Zora Garner, Ayers State Technical College, Anniston, Ala.

We do fine drills. My salon is in a small Alaskan town with very little crime, but we have bars on the windows just in case. We try to keep up with the safety standards of Oregon and California.- Louise Earle-Snyder, Purr-Fect Nails, Soldotna, Alaska

We have a well-lit parking lot that we can monitor from the front desk. We watch our clients when they leave and make sure they get to their cars safely. We have a locking file cabinet where we keep our files and client information and only the owner access to it.-Diane Miller, It’s All about Me, West Jordan, Utah

My primary concern, being an owner and operator, is guarding against the spread of infection. All of my clients have their own envelopes. Artificial clients have their own envelopes containing their own files, sanding bands, and buffers. Natural nail client each receive an autoclave envelope with a nail brush, sanitizing fizzing ball, a new nail file, and a new orangewood stick. Not only do I feel safer about this, so do my clients.-Lori Flynn, Salon 1921, Scranton, Pa.

At night we walk our clients out to their cars and don’t go back in until they have left our parking lot. Once it gets dark we lock the doors and set the alarm. We had it installed as a precaution even though we are not in a high-crime area. We also have strict sanitation standards. Safety is of utmost importance to us.-Christy Sims, Kreated Nail Envy Inc., Phoenix

I am the only one in the salon so I have to be extra careful. I have a monitored alarm system with a panic button that is connected to the police. Because I work alone in the salon I lock the door after my last client arrives.-Donna Graham-Parker, Polished!, Woodland, Calif.

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