13 May 2013
Tattoo studios in Wales are to be the first in the UK to receive cleanliness ratings in a bid to raise hygiene standards, according to environmental health officers.
Parlours that take part in the voluntary system will display their grades in their windows, while customers will be able to make their own minds up about studios which choose to opt out of the scheme, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) revealed at its annual conference in Cardiff.
Tattooists will be asked by their local council to take part next year and those who volunteer will be given grades between one and four. It is hoped that the scheme will lift standards of safety and impact on backstreet tattooists who put the health of their customers at risk, the CIEH said.
In a survey it found that 70% of people with tattoos and 78% of those looking to have one for the first time would be influenced by the ratings in deciding where to have work done, while tattooists themselves indicated that having a rating would set them apart from “poorer operators” and provide more safety for consumers.
The director of the CIEH in Wales, Julie Barratt, said hygiene can often be the last thing people wanting to have tattoos done think about, with many more concerned about the price, quality and waiting times.
Copyright Press Association 2013