3.5 Regulatory Agencies: The Board, OSHA, EPA, FDA & CDC

Four Acronyms, Four Different Jobs

Examination items in this area are almost always testing one thing: can you attribute a requirement to the correct agency? The distractors are the other three agencies. Once you can state each body's jurisdiction in a sentence, the items become nearly free.

The Tennessee Board

The Board was created as a combined cosmetology and barbering board in 2014; the cosmetology act dates to 1986 and the barbering act to 1929. It sits under the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance (TDCI). Its stated mission is to protect the public health, safety and welfare through the regulation of cosmetologists, instructors, aestheticians, manicurists, natural hair stylists, hair braiders, eyelash specialists, cosmetology shops, master barbers, barber technicians, barber instructors, barber shops, and barber and cosmetology schools.

Its authority comes from T.C.A. Title 62, Chapter 4 (the Tennessee Cosmetology Act of 1986) for cosmetology, aesthetics, manicuring, natural hair styling and eyelash services, and T.C.A. Title 62, Chapter 3 for barbering. Its rules sit in three chapters:

Chapters 0440-01 and 0440-02 were both revised effective December 24, 2025. When you study state law, read the current compilation from the Tennessee Secretary of State rather than a school photocopy, because several provisions — including the posting rule and the inspection rule — were amended in that revision, and others were repealed outright.

The Board is not a health department, and it does not register disinfectants, approve cosmetic ingredients, or enforce workplace safety. It requires you to use products that other agencies have vetted.

OSHA — the Occupational Safety and Health Administration

OSHA is part of the U.S. Department of Labor and exists to protect employees. Two OSHA standards dominate esthetics:

The Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) — often called the "Right to Know" standard. It requires chemical manufacturers and importers to assess and communicate the hazards of their products, requires products to be labeled with standardised warnings, and requires employers to maintain a Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for every hazardous product on the premises, accessible to employees during their shift.

The Bloodborne Pathogens Standard — requires employers to provide, and employees to use, appropriate personal protective equipment; governs exposure-control planning, handling of contaminated sharps, and post-exposure follow-up.

OSHA also supplies the concept of Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs), which appear in Section 8 of an SDS.

EPA — the Environmental Protection Agency

The EPA registers disinfectants, which it regulates as antimicrobial pesticides. An EPA registration number on a label means the manufacturer submitted efficacy data supporting the specific kill claims printed there.

This is why Tennessee's disinfection rule is written the way it is. Rule 0440-02-.13(2)(a) requires immersion in an EPA registered, bactericidal, virucidal, fungicidal disinfectant mixed and used according to the manufacturer's directions; 0440-02-.13(2)(b) escalates to an EPA registered, hospital grade product effective against HIV-1 and Hepatitis B Virus for anything that contacted blood or body fluids. The Board is not evaluating the chemistry itself — it is requiring you to use a product the EPA has already vetted, exactly as the label directs.

A practical consequence: the label is the law. If the label says the surface must remain visibly wet for ten minutes, ten minutes is your contact time; if it says two, two is. Tennessee sets no fixed immersion time of its own, so the manufacturer's directions govern.

FDA — the Food and Drug Administration

The FDA regulates cosmetics, drugs and medical devices. The distinction the examination cares about is cosmetic versus drug:

• A cosmetic is intended to cleanse, beautify or alter appearance. A moisturiser, a cleanser, a foundation.
• A drug is intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease, or to affect the structure or function of the body. Sunscreens are regulated as over-the-counter drugs in the United States, which is why an SPF product carries a Drug Facts panel.

A product can be both. An anti-dandruff shampoo or a tinted moisturiser with SPF is a cosmetic and a drug.

Tennessee links directly to the FDA in Rule 0440-02-.17(1): no establishment or school shall have on the premises cosmetic products containing hazardous substances banned by the FDA for use in cosmetic products, including, but not limited to, liquid methylmethacrylate, and no product shall be used in a manner that is disapproved by the FDA.

Read the second clause carefully. It is broader than the first. Even a legal product used off-label — a professional-strength acid used at a strength or frequency the manufacturer does not support, a device used for an unapproved indication — falls within Rule 0440-02-.17.

CDC — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The CDC is a public-health agency, not a licensing or enforcement body for salons. It issues guidance: Standard Precautions, handwashing recommendations, and infection-control practice. The examination blueprint names the CDC alongside OSHA in "procedures for exposure incidents (e.g., Standard/Universal Precautions, OSHA, CDC)."

Standard Precautions is the CDC concept every esthetician must know: treat all human blood and certain body fluids as if they are infectious, regardless of what you believe about the individual client. You do not decide who is a risk. You apply the same barrier practices to everyone.

Attribution Drill