Eid is just around the corner and women are already concerned about visiting salons and beauty centers to polish up for the occasion or obtain an entirely new look. Part of the beauty centers' responsibility, however, is also to safeguard the customer's health and safety so Saudi Gazette visited a few of such centers in Jeddah to ensure that the environment was doing just that in the wake of the H1N1 virus. The owners of these establishments are pleased to see so much awareness amongst most Saudi and expatriate women, and overwhelmingly claim to provide special safety procedures for free during the Eid rush period. “We are currently receiving a large number of women who make an effort to ensure that certain safety procedures are in place, with some even bringing their own sterilized tools from home,” said Fatima Yahiya, the owner of one such center in Jeddah. “We abide by certain procedures ourselves by giving the necessary training to the employees.” Another beauty center owner stressed that basic safety procedures were a prerequisite for working in this field, especially where liquid products like creams, oils and water from shower heads in concerned. Amal Younes is the owner of a well-known center in Jeddah and she told Saudi Gazette that professionals in this field have also taken to wearing masks during work. However, to avoid any risk of infection, all customers are advised to ensure safety procedures themselves before visiting these beauty centers. Younes indicated that those beauty professionals who wished to work at her center were required to present a certificate showing that they had completed a training course as well as one from the Ministry of Health approving the individual's general health. this certification ensures that at the time of testing, the individual was free from all infections and viruses. During the past year, many public and private sector organizations have launched training programs for women working in this field to stress the importance of applying certain safety procedures in beauty centers. These obligations have always been around, in fact, but have only recently been urged on the centers as infections like the H1N1 in particular have become rife. “We are launching several training courses under the supervision of the Organization for Technical Education and Vocational Training for this kind of situation, and in fact, it is one of the most important courses that the trainees are receiving,” said Nora Siddique, the owner of Al-Anamel Al-Thahabiya beauty center in Jeddah. “After training, trainees are sent to the Jeddah Municipality to receive the permission to work in these centers.” Jeddah Municipality has also advised all beauty centers to openly display their certification in the centers so that customers can automatically know that they are in a rule-abiding establishment. however, Siddique pointed out that due to the current high-demand period, many beauty centers are employing anyone to work for a limited period, without any health checks, certification or training. Therefore, “Jeddah Municipality has increased the number of surprise inspections conducted in these beauty centers,” she added. For customers, knowing that a beauty center is not abiding by the rules is tantamount to outright rejection of that place, largely due to the H1N1 virus. The Jeddah Health Affairs Management has therefore started printing awareness brochures to distribute amongst beauty centers in the city and in nearby villages, Dr. Sami Badawood, the director of the management, told Saudi Gazette.
