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State Releases New Proposed Body Piercing Regulations
Salem, OR, August 3, 2001 -- Susan K. Wilson, Director of the Oregon Health Licensing Agency, has released a proposed draft of new Oregon Administrative Rules that set licensing, health safety and sanitation guidelines for the body piercing industry in this state.
The proposals come after a detailed research process and numerous public meetings conducted since January 2001.
"The proposal we have created will make great strides forward in protecting the public from infections spread through an industry which is growing rapidly in Oregon, " says Wilson, "Oregon has been recognized as a leader in health safety, and many of the improvements were proposed by licensed body piercers to improve industrial safety."
Oregon was the third state in the nation to regulate body piercing in 1995 (after Texas and Wisconsin), and significant improvements in the body piercing industry spurred the Oregon Health Licensing Agency to update licensing, safety and sanitation standards to protect body piercing consumers in Oregon.
TECHNICIAN REGISTRATION
- Minimum age of 18 with a high school diploma or GED. (Currently, there is no minimum age or minimum education requirement for technicians)
- Registration follows the technician, instead of being linked to the facility. This provision creates mobility for the technician and eliminates multiple registrations to work at multiple facilities. Technicians will provide their residential address for registration and will be required to notify OHLA within thirty days of changes to their address or facility of employment.
- New applicants will be required to present proof of completion in an approved basic First Aid class, proof of completion of a class in blood borne pathogens infection control, and proof of training in post-piercing aftercare procedures.
- Technicians will be required to carry government-issued photo ID to confirm their identity to a state or local health official.
FACILITY LICENSES
- Facility owner must be at least age 18 and have completed high school or obtained a GED. (Current regulations do not have a minimum education requirement)
- All premises where piercings are performed must be licensed and meet sanitation and facility requirements, including settings such as street fairs, carnivals, bazaars and community events.
- At time of application, the facility owner must provide registration data about the autoclave(s) that will be in use to sterilize tools - or must sign an exemption if the facility is exempt due to pre-sterilized equipment (including earlobe service).
- Applicant must provide photographs of the piercing area, biohazard storage area and equipment sterilization area within the facility.
- Facility owner must contact OHLA to arrange an inspection time if over one year has elapsed since previous inspection.
PROHIBITIONS
- Genital and nipple piercing will continue to be prohibited on persons under age 18.
- Written parental consent will continue to be required for piercings performed on a person under age 18. Parent or legal guardian must present current government issued photographic identification at time of written consent.
- Performing a piercing on a person who is inebriated or appears to be incapacitated by the use of alcohol or drugs, who shows signs of recent intravenous drug use, or on a person with sunburn or skin diseases or disorders such as open lesions, rashes, wounds or puncture marks will continue to be prohibited.
- Use of personal client jewelry, or any device presented by the client for use during the initial body (including ears) piercing procedure is prohibited.
Several new restrictions apply to piercing 'guns' and similar spring-driven equipment;
- Piercing with a manual-loading spring-operated piercing gun is prohibited. Effective June 30, 2002 all gun style ear piercing equipment must use a presterilized encapsulated stud and clasp system for piercing earlobes.
- Piercing guns will only be allowed for use on the earlobe exclusively and no other parts of the body or ear.
FEE INCREASES
- An increase in the facility licensing fee from $ 100 to $ 250 has been proposed to fund ongoing regulatory enforcement costs for the Body Piercing Licensing Program within the Oregon Health Licensing Agency.
- The application fee for a facility licenses will increase from $ 100 to $ 150 to reflect the additional staff time required to process the application with new requirements in place.
- Renewal of facility licenses expired over thirty days will cost $300, with technician registrations expired over thirty days costing $ 35.
EARLOBE-ONLY SERVICES
Businesses that only pierce earlobes, including jewelry stores, beauty salons and jewelry departments of major chain retailers will be impacted by the prohibitions on older manual-loading pierce guns.
CLIENT RECORDS
Expanded information will be obtained from clients receiving a body piercing. Facilities will be obliged to record clients' name, address, telephone number and date of birth. In addition, the technician will need to record the date of a piercing service, body location and type of piercing performed; a complete list of the clients' allergies to medicines or topical solutions, history of any bleeding disorders, description of any complications which occur during a procedure, a copy of a signed statement verifying the client received information about aftercare instructions, and a record of the identification presented to document the clients' age or parental consent, when the client is under age 18. Client records must be typed or in legible handwriting and available for inspection upon request from an OHLA enforcement officer.
(It is worth noting that many piercing businesses in Oregon gather this client information on their own release and aftercare forms currently).
CODE OF CONDUCT
The Oregon Health Licensing Agency is adopting a Code of Conduct for body piercing licensees to adhere to regarding professional conduct. The Code identifies expectations the State will have towards the conduct of licensed piercers, and creates specific civil fines and potential local-level criminal law sanctions, which will provide the Oregon Health Licensing Agency an additional enforcement tool when extreme violations of state standards are encountered. The Code of Conduct will address areas such as misrepresentation, false advertising of services, and technicians who willfully violate state safety standards.
This is the first re-write of state licensing, sanitation and safety standards since body piercing became a licensed occupation in 1995.
Body piercing as a licensed industry in Oregon has experienced profound growth, with the number of licensed facilities increasing 93 percent in the past five years. And with the growth in facilities comes more Oregon jobs. The amount of body piercing technicians registered with the Oregon Health Licensing Agency has grown over 250 percent since 1995. Currently, 695 technicians are registered to work in 192 licensed facilities throughout Oregon.
The proposed regulations will be open for written public comment until September 28th, with a formal public hearing on adoption of the new regulations set for October 8 in Salem. For additional information about body piercing regulations, or to download the proposed new regulations, please go to the agency Web site, www.hlo.state.or.us.
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