1.3 Virginia Sanitation & Safety Standards and Display of Licence
Key Takeaways
- Every Virginia cosmetologist must have a covered wet disinfection unit at their own station, and multiuse implements must be fully immersed in disinfectant for a minimum of 10 minutes.
- 18VAC41-20-270 D 4 prohibits any multiuse article that cannot be immersion-disinfected or cleaned per manufacturer instruction, naming natural hairbrushes and neck dusters specifically.
- Only sterile styptic powder or sterile liquid astringent applied with a sterile single-use applicator may be used to check bleeding, and styptic pencils are single-use items to be discarded after one client.
- A nail drill or motorized instrument may be used on the artificial nail surface only, and an artificial nail may be applied only to a healthy natural nail.
- Licences are displayed in plain view of the public either in the reception area or at individual work stations, with no photograph requirement in 18VAC41-20-260.
1.3 Virginia Sanitation & Safety Standards and Display of Licence
18VAC41-20-270 is the longest section in the chapter and the one an inspector walks in holding. It is organised into lettered subsections, and answering a Virginia item correctly usually means recalling which subsection a rule lives in.
A. The umbrella duty
Any shop, salon, or school delivering barber, cosmetology, nail, or wax services must be clean and sanitary at all times. Licensees must take sufficient measures to prevent the transmission of communicable and infectious diseases and must ensure their employees comply too. Mobile shops and salons must be stationary while providing services and may not operate where a local ordinance forbids it. Compliance with 18VAC41-20 does not substitute for building, zoning, fire, or public-health law.
B. Disinfection and storage of implements
Every barber, master barber, cosmetologist, nail technician, and wax technician must have a wet disinfection unit at their own station, and that unit must have a cover to prevent contamination. Solutions are used according to the manufacturer's directions.
The procedure for multiuse implements made of hard, nonporous material — metal, glass, or plastic — that the manufacturer designed for use on more than one client (clippers, scissors, combs, nippers) is a five-step sequence that must be completed before servicing a client:
- Remove all foreign matter, using a brush if needed. Drill bits are soaked in acetone and scrubbed with a wire brush.
- Wash thoroughly with hot water and soap.
- Rinse thoroughly with clean water and dry thoroughly with a clean paper towel.
- Fully immerse in wet disinfectant solution for a minimum of 10 minutes.
- After immersion, rinse, dry thoroughly with a clean paper towel, and store in a clean, predisinfected, dry cabinet, drawer, or sealed covered container — or leave the instruments in the wet disinfection unit per manufacturer directions.
Single-use items designed for use on no more than one client are discarded immediately after that client. The regulation names them: powder puffs, lip colour, cheek colour, sponges, styptic pencils, nail care implements, and disposable razors. Disinfecting and reusing these is not permitted, and using a single-use item on more than one client is prohibited.
Four equipment-specific rules complete the subsection:
- Rechargeable clippers may be stored outside a closed cabinet for charging, provided the area is clean and the cutting edges are disinfected.
- Electrical clipper blades are disinfected before and after each use. If a blade cannot be removed, an EPA-registered bactericidal, virucidal, and fungicidal spray or foam used per manufacturer instructions is acceptable, and the entire handle must also be wiped with the disinfectant.
- Wax pots are cleaned and disinfected with an EPA-registered bactericidal, virucidal, and fungicidal product, with no sticks left standing in the wax at any time, and the surrounding area kept clear of clutter, waste, and spills.
- Foot tubs, whirlpool units, air-jetted basins, pipe-less units, and non-whirlpool basins are cleaned and disinfected immediately after each client: drain the water and remove debris; clean surfaces and walls with soap or detergent to remove visible debris, oils, and product residue and rinse; disinfect with an EPA-registered bactericidal, virucidal, and fungicidal product in accordance with manufacturer directions for pedicure units; and wipe dry with a clean towel.
C. General facility standards
- Service chairs, wash basins, sinks, bowls, workstations, workstands, and back bars must be clean.
- The floor surface in all work areas must be a washable surface other than carpet.
- Furniture, fixtures, walls, floors, windows, and ceilings must be clean, in good repair, and free of water seepage and dirt; mats must be secured or lie flat.
- A fully functional bathroom in the same building with a working toilet and sink, hot and cold running water, lighting, ventilation, and soap plus clean single-use towels or a hand air-drying device must be available for clients. The bathroom must not be used as a work area or for open storage of chemicals.
- Electrical cords are placed to prevent entanglement, and outlets must be covered by plates.
- Sharp tools, implements, and heat-producing appliances must be in safe working order, safely stored, and placed to prevent accidental injury.
- The salon area must be sufficiently ventilated to exhaust hazardous or objectionable airborne chemicals and allow free air flow, with adequate lighting.
D. Articles, tools, and products
- Clean towels, robes, or other linens for each patron, stored in a clean, predisinfected, dry cabinet, drawer, or non-airtight covered container. Soiled linens go in a container enclosed on all sides including the top, unless kept in a separate laundry room.
- Whenever a haircloth is used, a clean towel or neck strip is placed around the patron's neck so the haircloth never touches skin.
- Soiled implements are removed from work-station tops immediately after use.
- D 4 — the prohibition candidates forget: any multiuse article, tool, or product that cannot be disinfected by full immersion or cleaned per manufacturer recommendation — including natural hairbrushes and neck dusters — is prohibited from use.
- Lotions, ointments, creams, and powders must be accurately labelled and kept in closed containers. A clean spatula, other clean tool, or clean disposable gloves removes bulk substances from jars; sterile cotton or sponges apply creams, lotions, and powders; cosmetic containers are covered after each use.
- For nail care, a client's personal sanitary container must be labelled and its implements used solely for that client.
- D 7 — checking bleeding: no substance other than a sterile styptic powder or sterile liquid astringent approved for homeostasis and applied with a sterile single-use applicator may be used.
- D 8 — any disposable material contacting blood or other body fluid must be double-bagged, labelled as a biohazard, and disposed of in a closed receptacle.
Correction to a common myth. Styptic pencils are not "banned" in Virginia in the abstract — 18VAC41-20-270 B 3 classifies them as single-use items that must be discarded after one client, and D 7 restricts what may be used to check bleeding to sterile styptic powder or sterile liquid astringent with a sterile single-use applicator. The practical effect is the same (never reuse one), but state the rule the way the regulation states it.
E. Chemical storage and emergency information
- A binder with all Safety Data Sheets (SDS) from manufacturers for every chemical product used, kept in the immediate working area.
- A blood spill clean-up kit in the work area containing at minimum: latex gloves, two 12-inch by 12-inch towels, one disposable trash bag, bleach, one empty spray bottle, and one mask with face shield — or any OSHA-approved blood spill clean-up kit.
- Flammable chemicals labelled and stored in a nonflammable storage cabinet or a properly ventilated room.
- Chemicals that could interact hazardously (oxidizers, catalysts, solvents) labelled and separated in storage.
F. Client health guidelines
- Employees cleanse their hands with a soap product before each client, and licensees must require nail-care clients to cleanse their hands immediately before the service.
- An artificial nail must only be applied to a healthy natural nail.
- A nail drill or motorized instrument must be used on the artificial nail surface only.
- No facility may have on the premises cosmetic products containing hazardous substances banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for cosmetic use, and no product may be used in a manner disapproved by the FDA. This pair of rules — not a named-ingredient list — is the hook Virginia uses for problem monomers and misused products. 18VAC41-20 does not name methyl methacrylate, Credo blades, or fish pedicures anywhere; do not attribute those bans to a Virginia section number.
- All regulated services must be performed in a facility complying with current local building and zoning codes.
Subsections G, H, and I add that licensees must also follow Virginia Department of Health and Virginia Department of Labor and Industry (OSHA compliance) requirements, must immediately report the results of any VDH inspection (§ 54.1-705), and must keep an annually updated self-inspection form for five years.
Display of licence — 18VAC41-20-260
- Responsible management must ensure all current licences and certificates are displayed in plain view of the public either in the reception area or at individual work stations. Duplicates are posted in every location where the regulant provides services. There is no photograph requirement in this section.
- Responsible management must ensure no employee, licensee, student, or apprentice performs any service beyond the scope of practice for the applicable licence.
- All licensees operate under the name in which the licence was issued.
- Unless also licensed as a cosmetologist, a barber or master barber needs a separate nail technician or wax technician licence to perform nail care or waxing.
- Proof of apprenticeship registration issued by the Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement (VDWDA) must be displayed in plain view, and the sponsor must require each apprentice to wear a badge clearly indicating registered-apprentice status.
Under 18VAC41-20-270 B 2, how long must a multiuse implement remain fully immersed in wet disinfectant solution?
Which two implements does 18VAC41-20-270 D 4 name as examples of articles that are prohibited from use in a Virginia salon?
A Virginia nail technician wants to use a motorized drill to smooth a client’s natural nail plate before applying an enhancement. What does 18VAC41-20-270 F say?