Abu Dhabi barbers told to be hygienic

Abu Dhabi authorities told their hair cutting and beauty saloons to conduct periodical maintenance of their equipment and tools as part of strict rules intended to protect public health and prevent the spread of diseases, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Barbers and all other hair cutting and beauty saloons in the capital must now ensure there is enough space between hair cutting chairs and replace their cloth curtains separating the chairs with glass, aluminium or other dust and bacteria-resistant material, according to the new rules issued by the Abu Dhabi Municipality.

The rules, published by the Arabic language daily 'Al Khaleej', stipulated that hair cutting chairs should be at least 1.25 metres within each other and each chair is assigned an area of six square metres to prevent the spread of infection among customers.

Shaving tools must be new, high quality and not rusted while all the tools must be cleaned and sterilised after use.

“All hair cutting and beauty saloons are required to implement periodical maintenance of their tools, equipment and chairs, including repairs, paintings and upholstering to ensure they remain in a good and healthy shape,” the Municipality said.

“Used towels must be collected and placed in a separate dish for cleaning and sterilisation while paper tapes used around the neck of female customers must be used only once.”

The new rules also stipulated that saloons must stop using laser and other lighting systems which could pose health threats if not used properly by those who lack medical experience.

“All workers at saloons must hold a fitness certificate issued by the Abu Dhabi preventive medicine department and a health card. There will be no renewal of licences for saloons whose workers do not meet these conditions,” the municipality said.