Hairdressers ‘are not taking precautions to prevent personal injury’

Posted 21/12/2009

Hair salons in the UK are failing to take necessary precautions when using chemical hair dyes in order to protect sensitive customers from personal injury.

This is the view of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), which conducted a regional survey showing that less than half of hairdressers across the country regularly conduct skin tests on clients.

According to the body, this could be placing those with undetected allergies at risk of suffering a reaction to hair dyes, which could lead to burning, blistering or temporary blindness.

Denise Kitchener, chief executive of APIL, therefore called for skin tests to become standard procedure, suggesting that customers demand them when they are not offered.

She said: “The alternative can and has devastated people … These injuries are easily avoided.”

This comes after a girl earlier this month won a £2,000 compensation claim after she suffered a personal injury as a result of an allergic reaction to hair dye.