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Bulletin Boards > A day in the life of.... > guest with infectious disease

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Posted By:art+science on: 11/26/2008 12:01:09 AM

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Thread: guest with infectious disease

art+science
Posts: 7

guest with infectious disease
Posted: Wednesday, November 26, 2008 12:01:09 AM

tonight i had a guest come in with pink eye. i was very uncomfortable about doing the service ( a hair treatment) that lasted an hour. upon arriving, the guest sat in my chair and informed me she had pink eye. i excused myself for a moment to talk with the front desk on what to do. i was told that i had to complete the service... which i did with gloves on. i cant afford to get pink eye ( which is HIGHLY contagious) and be out of work for 7-10 days.

after her service she complained and is calling the owner of the salon.... im furious that a guest would even show up to an appointment with a highly infectious disease and then get angry.
the front desk COMP'D her service.

how would you have handled the situation? especially after being told you HAD to take the service.

russnyc
Posts: 1049
Platinum Member

Pink Eye
Posted: Thursday, November 27, 2008 11:53:08 AM

You didn't connect with the client and make her feel warm and welcome, and could've smoothed it over a bit rather than making a big deal of it. I'm good at turning things inside out, and upon her stating she had pink eye, would've said something like,

"Well, I don't plan on highlighting your eyelashes!"

This would've eased up the tension considerably.

Professionally refusing service upon a cosmetology license is applicable to scalp & hair condition, and allergic conditions, not the eye. I would not wear gloves because you made her feel like a pariah and she was probably turned away previously from other salons as well.

Clients come in with AIRBORNE colds, flu, etc. that are just as if not MORE contagious. Remember, there are cosmetology standards we follow that protect us from herpes, hepatitis and other NON VISIBLE communicable disease. Soap and water go a long way to prevent transmission.

If you were really uncomfortable, you could've passed it on or tried to do the service at the sink. You should also be talking to management about your abilities to refuse to service a client and what the house rules are.

I.E, I can turn a client away for untoward behavior if they change their mind halfway through a service or if it is an unreasonable request given the time alotted for it.

Your judgement is occasionally going to clash with management and/ or a client's judgement, but it isn't your salon and if you haven't got a preset agreement with management you will have situations like this arise time and time again. The other mistake was that management wasn't part of your decision to wear gloves.

We are in a well paying service industry. The gloves roared, "I'm thinking of MYSELF", when you should've been thinking of HER.

Mother Theresa worked extensively with lepers, I have no problem with pink eye.

teachhair
Posts: 60

Posted: Thursday, November 27, 2008 8:04:36 PM

I guess it depends on which state you are in. Since Pink eye is an air borne infection in Washington State you are NOT to work on anyone with this infection.

I am an instructor and if a student comes to school with pink eye ,poisen oak ect they are sent home, These are communicable Diseases and we are not allowed to work on anyone who is infected.

I would not have used gloves I would have sent her on her way.

russnyc
Posts: 1049
Platinum Member

Pink Eye
Posted: Friday, November 28, 2008 5:13:23 AM

This is a slippery slope of a thread...

Schools and salons are different. I could also not go to work if I had Pink Eye. Students are expected to uphold sanitation procedures but in the real world washing your hands between clients and sterilization procedures are sufficient.

I'm from Massachusetts, work in New York, and am licensed in both. I don't recall anything about pink eye being airborne or something to turn a client out of a salon for, though I will not question you as an instructor.

Several years ago, I got a wart from a client. I know I got it from a client because I remembered seeing it on his scalp. The wart was in the worst possible place for a stylist, right between my two fingers where you hold hair before cutting it.

Even bandaged, it was extremely painful. Worse, I kept trying to freeze it off with Compound W treatments that made it even more sensitive.

I cursed that man every time I had to do a haircut. But you know what?

I wash with soap and water between every client now.

art+science
Posts: 7

Posted: Friday, November 28, 2008 10:16:20 AM

i should also explain a little more.

with every service a guest receives a hand and arm massage, a make up touch up, a scalp massage. in addition to the service they are paying for.

that is what she was most upset about.

the guest upon telling me about her pink eye, kept touching her eye and telling me how much it hurt. and yes, it is just like a cold. which is also contagious. but i would be allowed back to work with a cold versus pink eye.

and if i could have given this service to another stylist i would have.

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