RIYADH — The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs (MMRA) on Sunday announced protocols for resumption of business activities in men's barbershops and women's salons in the Kingdom, Saudi Press Agency reported. The protocols include guidelines, requirements and conditions for protection of clients and employees. The guidelines have also a provision of appointments to avoid gathering of customers. The clients will have to wait outside the shops for their turn and abide by the mandatory social distancing norms. Workers have also been directed to wash their hands frequently with soap and warm water. The protocols also stressed the use of personal safety and protection tools including face masks and gloves, face shield/glasses, barber's lab coat, fabric jacket, plastic jacket and neck strap. The protocols emphasize a number of requirements pertaining to hygiene in barbershops. They include cleaning and disinfecting the surfaces in the shop every two hours, cleaning and disinfecting shops well before their opening, ensuring hand soap is available in restrooms in sufficient quantities; washing tools and implements with hot water, soap and disinfectant daily and repeatedly. Customers are not allowed to have any accompanying person with them. The ministry said workers in barbershops and salons must use new tools for each customer who should be served by one worker. Services provided in barbershops have been restricted to only haircut and shaving. Body massage is barred. The protocols also urge customers to bring their own shaving tools. Workers in women's beauty salons should inform the client of the importance of washing their hair in advance. The requirements also include limiting face-to-face communication with clients, preventing gatherings inside the salon, canceling the use of the fingerprint reading device for recording attendance of female employees and to use alternative methods, to prevent customers from bringing companions into the salon, and making it compulsory for the shop/salon to take customer data (name and mobile number) for reference purposes. The measures also include the use of face shield or eyeglasses during washing and cleaning of hair and skin and abolition of all massage or steam bath services in salons.
