First Aid in a Salon: What Stylists and Owners Need to Know

Salon accidents can cause medical emergencies right there in your barbering chair. It’s happened to multiple Reddit users, and it could happen to you, too.

For example, first aid in a salon can prove useful if:

• A client loses consciousness from fatigue, low blood sugar, heart attacks, or strokes.
• Someone slips, trips, or falls.
• Your tools nick or cut someone, particularly their scalp or eyes.
• A nick or cut leads to a virus or infection.
• Inappropriate or excessive dye, bleach, or heat over-processes or burns a client’s hair.
• Defective heat styling tools cause a salon fire.

As a barber or hairstylist facing potential salon accidents, what are you supposed to do? How can you help take care of your clients until they get to a doctor? First aid in a beauty salon is the answer.

Why should all employees in a barbershop or salon receive first aid training?

We can’t understate the importance of first aid in the workplace. When you prioritize first aid, you:

• Prevent and reduce salon accidents and injuries.
• Help injured clients recover faster.
• Improve employee morale.
• Reduce your liability.

How can you be sure  you’re ready to administer first aid in a salon? What barbershop and hair salon rules for employees do you need in place? Let’s answer some frequently asked questions about salon and barber shop safety guidelines:

• Does OSHA require first aid training? It may come as a surprise, but when it comes to OSHA regulations for hair salons, first aid training isn’t one of the requirements. While OSHA does not require barbershops and salons to have first aid training, it does recommend it.

• How many people need to be first aid trained? Why should all employees in a barbershop or salon receive first aid training? Accidents can (and do) happen in barbershops and salons. To protect you and your clients, all employees should receive first aid training. With first aid training, you’re better equipped to use a hair salon first aid kit, respond to clients’ injuries to reduce their severity, and even save lives. Knowing what to do will help your clients feel safer and help you feel more confident.
• How often should you take first aid training? OSHA recommends renewing your first aid training every three years. However, if you’re CPR certified, too, you should renew your CPR certification annually.

What should be in a first aid kit in a salon?

There’s a lot you can do to prepare for first aid in a salon. But you can’t do much first aid without a hair salon first aid kit. 

Your workplace first aid supplies are the tools you need to help clients in medical distress. But what’s the OSHA requirement for first aid kits? And what does an OSHA approved first aid kit include?

When it comes to first aid kits for commercial businesses, like salons, OSHA requires one kit for every two to three employees. Have more employees? Then you need more first aid safety supplies.

According to OSHA, each first aid kit for hairdressing salons should include:

• Gauze pads (at least 4 x 4 inches).
• Two large gauze pads (at least 8 x 10 inches).
• Box adhesive bandages (band-aids).
• One package gauze roller bandage at least 2 inches wide.
• Two triangular bandages.
• Wound cleaning agent such as sealed moistened towelettes.
• Scissors.
• At least one blanket.
• Tweezers.
• Adhesive tape.
• Latex gloves.
• Resuscitation equipment such as resuscitation bag, airway, or pocket mask.
• Two elastic wraps.
• Splint.
• Directions for requesting emergency assistance.

But OSHA isn’t the only organization regulating first aid emergency equipment. Your state may, too. For example, Pennsylvania’s mandates for first aid and CPR equipment in salons include a blood spill kit and burn ointment.

If your state requires something OSHA doesn’t, add it to your hair salon first aid kit to be compliant. If your state doesn’t list something OSHA does, carry it, anyway, to cross all your Ts with both organizations. That way, if first aid in a salon ever becomes necessary, you’ll be extra prepared!

Where can I buy my hair salon first aid kit?

No one manufacturer or store has the monopoly on hair salon first aid. So where you buy your kit is up to you. 

You can buy premade first aid kits for work with the bag and all the supplies. Or, you can create your own by buying each item individually. Just make sure to check everything off OSHA and your state’s lists—especially since premade kits can exclude necessary items.

What about kits for specific disasters, like first aid kits for chemical burns, earthquakes, or fire safety? Most specialized kits won’t have all the basics you need in them. But if you want the extra products to protect against specific concerns, then you can add a special kit to your arsenal. You can always perform a risk assessment for hair salons to determine any extra worth addressing.

What do I do with expired first aid supplies?

Expired first aid supplies are NOT safe to use. In addition to losing their effectiveness over time, they can also pose health risks, explains the Red Cross. Most first aid safety supplies last about five years. Refer to the expiration date on each item to be sure.

To avoid doing harm instead of good, the Red Cross recommends reviewing your workplace first aid kit annually. During your review, replace expired items. If there’s any damage to the packaging—like tears, stains, leaks, or openings—replace those items, too. Now’s also a good time to assess your first aid container for damage and remove any dust or debris from it.

First Aid in a Salon: Small But Mighty

First aid kits have been called “small kits with a big purpose.” You could say the same thing about hairstylist and barber insurance. 

For as little as $159 a year, insurance for barbers and hairstylists can protect you and your business from big risks, like these:

• Your client slips and falls in your salon and accuses you of not properly cleaning the floors. The jury gives them $561,000.
• As you give your client a fade, you inadvertently nick their skin. They get a cyst and a MRSA infection, and they file a lawsuit against you.
• While highlighting your client’s hair, you accidentally burned their scalp. They sue you for $200,000.
• Your employee left a candle burning in the salon, and that candle started a fire that caused $50,000 in damage.

Just like first aid in a salon, don’t leave insurance claims to chance. Click here to learn more about and apply for our barber and hairstylist insurance.