SASKATOON -- Saskatchewan businesses providing personal services must follow extensive guidelines when they are allowed to reopen on May 19.
Those services include hairdressers and barbers, registered massage therapists, acupuncturists and acupressurists, according to the Re-Open Saskatchewan plan released Thursday.
“We’ll do whatever is required and we’ll make it as safe as possible,” said Murray Bryck, owner and hairdresser at Shear Excellence.
Bryck said he didn’t expect to get back to work so soon, but is eager to return to some sense of normalcy.
He hopes the plan will be done right and will only be implemented once.
Bryck said he’s also looking at spreading out appointments.
“Stagger the times that hair dressers will work probably over six or seven days just so there aren’t too many people in the salon at once. And we’ll just have one client on the go at the same time,” he said.
Employees working directly with clients should wear droplet personal protective equipment, including a procedural/surgical mask and eye protection plus an apron to protect clothes.
Clients should attend appointments alone and not bring along friends or children. Clients should arrive no more than five minutes before the expected appointments and any waiting area should be set up so clients are at least two metres apart.
Clients should be screened prior to sitting for appointments by asking if they are ill or symptomatic. No services should be performed on ill or symptomatic clients.
Businesses must also remove unnecessary communal items, such as candy, magazines and complimentary phone chargers. Waiting chairs must be cleaned and disinfected after each client.
They also shouldn't offer beverages and clients should be encouraged to use hand washing stations or hand sanitizers.
Saskatoon hair stylist Carla Unger previously told CTV Saskatoon that the less damage people do to their hair while self-isolating, the easier it will be to fix DIY styles when salons open.
She has had some clients ask if they can get an appointment even though the salon is closed.
"There’s some that have done hair colour or home kits or highlighting or they've decided to give themselves bangs. Who knows what we're dealing with.”
With files from Nicole Di Donato
