Dubai: To raise the bar on hygiene and safety, Dubai salons have started getting certified health supervisors and trained staff members following a specialised training programme organised by the municipality.

A total of 163 employees were qualified as health supervisors after getting specialised training and passing the tests conducted by two certification bodies for this purpose. The training programme was implemented from December 2017 until the end of March this year, the civic body said in a press release.

The Health and Safety Department of Dubai Municipality has also completed training 5,301 employees of men’s salons and women’s beauty centres during the same period.

The training workshops were conducted by 72 trainers with specialised scientific competencies, health and safety expertise and speaking skills in a variety of languages that fit the cultural diversity in the work environment. The trainers were from 30 training and health consultancy companies approved by Dubai Municipality.

These trainers conducted the first basic level of training workshops for employees of men’s salons and women’s beauty centres, the municipality said.

Reda Salman, director of Health and Safety Department, said the department had approved the basic training initiative and the training of the health supervisors in the salons and the beauty centres.

This is to prepare an integrated training programme that includes basic training on health and safety requirements for all employees and training of a health supervisor.

The health supervisor is someone who is always available to supervise the internal system of the salons and the work procedures as per the requirements stipulated by the competent regulatory body and follow up everything related to the provision of healthy and safe services to the customers.

He said the programme was carried out based on the recommendations of the annual forum held in November 2016. “The Health Control Section in the department prepared the programme in January 2017 in response to the request of the salons and beauty centres that a programme should be developed by the municipality for training and qualifying their employees and to provide them with certificates,” said Salman.

He added that the trained employees will be responsible for assessing health and safety risks in the salons and beauty centres, developing corrective measures, updating work plans to prevent risks, supervising cleaning and sterilisation, dealing with disposable tools, employee practices and all other matters related to the health and safety of customers and employees, in addition to evaluating the hygiene status of the salon and the safety of its employees according to the checklist prepared for this purpose.

“They also have to follow up the inspection reports issued by the competent regulatory body to ensure that all violations mentioned in the report are [corrected] to enhance the level of classification of men’s salons and women’s beauty centres and improve them in all aspects to receive all members of the community in the emirate as well as the visitors and participants in the global flagship event Expo 2020,” added Salman.

He pointed out that the initiative will have an impact on the health and safety of the community members, customers and salons alike, as well as will reduce the spread of infectious diseases.