James Cox
The Irish Hairdressers Federation (IHF) has updated their Covid-19 safety guidelines while also issuing a renewed appeal to Government to allow the sector to remain open in Level 4.
Among the key recommendations contained in the updated guidelines are:
- The wearing of face masks, and not visors, is both medically recommended and required by law.
- Ensuring all employees are aware of the difference between a close contact and a casual contact to ensure salons do not close unnecessarily.
- Ongoing training of employees as the pandemic continues to evolve.
- Ensuring employees are aware of the EU Traffic Light system regarding clients who have travelled from abroad.
- Ensuring salons are well ventilated with fresh air where possible.
The updates to the IHF document, which was released in June, reflect the ongoing developments understanding of Covid-19, how it spreads and the effective measures for controlling it.
The document was prepared by noted health and safety experts and the IHF hopes it will enable them to reopen in Level 4 of the Government’s Living with Covid plan.
IHF president Danielle Kennedy said: “It is important that we constantly try to review and improve how we respond to the pandemic. Our focus is to continue to operate safely and responsibly. The hair industry is not just a major contributor to local economies around Ireland, it helps keep countless main streets alive and is a huge part of local communities.’’
In a previous interview with BreakingNews.ie, Ms Kennedy cited the tiered system of restrictions in the UK, which allows hairdressers to remain open in every level except a full lockdown situation.
“In the UK's tiered system, salons remain open in all of their tiers barring a lockdown situation. There's a good precedent there for us in other countries that salons can remain open in higher levels.”
Tough year
She added: “This has been a tough year for business in any industry. The Government supports have been great, the Budget was good to us, it really helped a lot of people out as did the PUP [Pandemic Unemployment Payment], which looked after our team members.
“However, going into next year there would be a fear of businesses shutting down. Our industry is coming off the back of a couple of bad years. We had a VAT increase, which meant salons had to increase prices, we had the [abolition] of trainee rates too.
“The industry was just starting to get back on its feet after the knock of those two years and then the pandemic hit. Going into next year, that's where the fear would lie if we have to close again, a lot of businesses may not be able to reopen.”
