Health department pushes for body art regulation
The Bear River Board of Health discussed stricter regulations to impose on body art businesses at public hearing Tuesday night.
“We felt needed to update our rules to reflect the procedures that are now being done under the name of body art,” said Michael Rhodes, environmental health scientist of the Bear River Health Department.
Rhodes said “body art” has expanded to many other business areas such as piercing, branding and scarification.
Regulations may be imposed on Cache, Rich and Box Elder County businesses to make it more difficult for people, especially minors without parental consent, to get body art done on themselves, and to make it more safe and healthy if they do.
Cache County Executive Lynn Lemon, who is a member of the Board of Health, said the board does not want to outlaw body art businesses, but wants them better regulated.
“This is not a religious issue, it’s a health issue. The rules are written strictly with regards to health concerns,” Rhodes said.
Body art practitioners may not be educated in health or anatomy; however, some are performing procedures on people that could permanently maim or disfigure someone, Rhodes said. The board’s concerns were with the sterilization of body art technicians’ procedural tools, and business workstations and venues. The board discussed preventative matters to eliminate or reduce worst-case scenarios of cross-contamination and infection of blood-born diseases.
The proposed regulations on body-art procedures such as piercing, branding, scarification, permanent cosmetics and tattooing seek to make businesses and body art technicians be required to undergo criminal background checks as well as earn registration and permits before being able to perform procedures. Businesses could be required to go through educational and training components.
Bren Atwood, of Sailor Jim’s Electric Tattooing parlor, said the regulations need be enforced on all businesses in the area that perform body art procedures, especially to those businesses that may not be safe.
“We are excited about the health code,” Atwood said. “It’s brought a lot of public attention that Bear River Health Department is concerned, which has also given us a good light.”
The Bear River Board of Health wants to continue with another public hearing on March 4 and invites businesses owners who perform body art procedures to attend.
-doantn@cc.usu.edu