What are manufacturers instructions in a salon?

An employer must provide a Health and Safety policy if they have five or more employees.

However, some hairdressers 'let out' chairs. In these cases, the hairdresser who rents the chair is not an employee - they are simply working at the owner's premises.

This means that the owner could have ten people working within his or her salon, yet have no employees.

In these cases, the Health and Safety at Work Act still imposes a duty on the owner and they must provide a written policy statement . Self employed people have a legal duty not to put other people at risk by the way they work.

An employer must provide a risk assessment. This must be written if the number of employees totals five or more. Further guidance can be found on the Health and Safety Executive's Risk Assessment website.

Examples of the main type of hazards found in a hairdressers can be:

• Slips, trips and falls
• Fire
• Electrical Safety
• Aerosols
• Manual Handling