Beauty Salons & Day Spas

What is physical distancing and how does it prevent the spread of COVID-19?

Physical distancing (also referred to as ‘social distancing’) refers to the requirement that people distance themselves from others. COVID-19 spreads from person to person through contact with droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. The droplets may fall directly into the person’s eyes, nose or mouth if they are in close contact with the infected person. A person may also be infected if they touch a surface contaminated with the droplets and then touch their mouth, nose or eyes before washing their hands.

Current health advice states that in order to reduce the risk of contact and droplet spread from a person, directly or indirectly, and from contaminated surfaces, people should maintain physical distance of at least 2 metres, practice good hand hygiene and engage in routine cleaning and disinfection of surfaces.

Physical distancing can also include requirements for there to be 4 square metres of space per person in a room or enclosed space, as well as limits on gathering sizes. These requirements differ between industries and between provinaces and states. For example, some provinces and states have updated public health directions to adjust physical distancing rules in line with local circumstances, such as revising the one person per 4 square metres rule to one person per 2 square metres in some circumstances. For more information about physical distancing requirements applicable to your business, go to your relevant provincial or state government website.

Do I need to implement physical distancing measures in my workplace?

Yes. It is your duty under work health and safety laws to manage the risk of a person in your workplace spreading and contracting COVID-19, including the risk that persons with COVID-19 enter the workplace. Physical distancing is one of the key ways to lower the risk of COVID-19 being spread or contracted at your workplace.

The risk of COVID-19 should be treated in the same way as any other workplace hazard – by applying a risk management approach. In consultation with your workers, including volunteers, and their representatives (e.g. health and safety representatives (HSRs)), you will need to assess the likelihood and degree of harm people may experience if exposed to COVID-19 and then implement the most effective control measures that are reasonably practicable to manage the risk. The control measures you implement should include outcomes that support physical distancing and operate alongside measures encouraging good hygiene amongst workers and others as well as regular and thorough cleaning of the workplace.

To meet your OHS duty you should be continually monitoring and reviewing the risks to the health and safety of workers and others, as well as the effectiveness of control measures put in place to eliminate or minimise these risks. You must also assess any new or changed risks arising from COVID-19, for example customer aggression, high work demand or working in isolation. You may also need to comply with physical distancing measures issued under public health directions in your province or state. Each province and state has directions that reflect local circumstances. For more information about physical distancing requirements, go to your relevant provincial or state government website.

How do the public health directions in my province or state interact with my OHS duty?

You must comply with your province or state’s public health directions that apply to your business. Your OHS duty is to do all that you reasonably can to manage the risks of a person contracting and/or spreading COVID-19 in your workplace. Depending on the circumstances, you may need to implement control measures in order to meet your OHS duty that go beyond the minimum requirements stated in public health directions or advised by public health authorities. For example, public health directions may state you can have up to 10 customers in your shop at any one time. However, in undertaking your risk assessment you may determine that due to the layout of the workplace and your work processes, having 10 customers in the store would not effectively support physical distancing outcomes. Instead, limiting your store to 8 customers at a time would ensure everyone can maintain a physical distance of 2 metres from each other.

How do I determine which physical distancing measures to implement to minimise the risk of COVID 19 spreading in my workplace?

To determine which physical distancing measures will be most effective in your workplace, you will need to undertake a risk assessment. A risk assessment is part of the risk management process which involves identifying where the risk arises in your workplace, assessing the risks (including the likelihood of them happening), controlling the risks and reviewing these controls regularly. These steps remain the same whether you are conducting a risk assessment in relation to work health and safety generally, or specifically in relation to COVID-19. In order to determine the most effective physical distancing measures you will need to:

• identify all activities or situations where people in your workplace may be in close proximity to each other

• assess the level of risk that people in these activities or situations may contract and/or spread COVID-19 in your workplace, and

• determine what control measures are reasonably practicable to implement based on the assessed level of risk

Remember, you must consult with workers, including volunteers, and their representatives (e.g. health and safety representatives) on health and safety matters relating to COVID-19, including what control measures to put in place in your workplace.

What physical distancing measures do I need to implement in my workplace?

Below are suggested measures to ensure physical distancing is achieved in your industry. Certain activities may not be permissible or there may be specific requirements in your province or state at this time and therefore some of the proposed measures may not be relevant to your workplace. For more information about physical distancing requirements, go to your relevant provincial or state government website.

Remember, you must do all that is reasonably practicable to manage the risk of people contracting and/or spreading COVID-19. Also remember, you must consult with workers and their representatives (e.g. health and safety representatives (HSRs)) on health and safety matters relating to COVID-19, including what control measures to put in place in your workplace.

Providing services to a client’s face or body

It will not be practicable to require beauty salon and spa workers to keep 2 metres of distance from clients when providing a number of services to clients. In these circumstances you should seek to limit physical interactions between workers and clients and reduce the amount of time workers spend in close contact. This could be achieved by:

• reducing the length and frequency of appointments where possible. Consider whether you can split services over multiple appointments

• allocating worker’s their own service room, segregated bay, products and equipment and ask them to avoid sharing products or equipment or entering each other’s spaces

• allocating one worker to a client and not swapping or using assistants to provide part of the service

• not providing refreshments to clients or only providing beverages in disposable cups, and

• asking clients to put any loaned towels, dressing gowns or other borrowed garments away in a closed laundry box after use rather than giving them to you to launder

Shared areas and services

Your business may have facilities that are used by a number of clients throughout the day and potentially at the same time. For example, steam rooms, spa baths and saunas as well as change rooms and showers. You need to limit the number of clients permitted in these areas any given time to ensure each person has 4 square metres of space.

• to achieve this, calculate the area of the enclosed space (length multiplied by width in metres) and divide by 4. This will provide you with the maximum number of people you should have in the space at any one time

To help you achieve 4 square metres of space per person (or where not reasonable, to achieve the maximum space per person) limit the number of clients in these areas by:

• making the services available by appointment only, and only allow a limited number of people in the spaces at one time. If you are opening baths, tubs, spas and saunas you may want to only allow one person in the facility at a time and ensure thorough cleaning is performed between each client

• monitoring access to change rooms and showers and asking that clients limit their time spent in these areas. Ask clients to tell someone once they have finished showering to allow workers to clean immediately after

• having clients fill out any pre-service paperwork before they come in and asking that they arrive immediately before and leave immediately after their service to reduce the number of people in waiting areas

Direct workers and clients to keep 2 metres of distance between them in accordance with general health advice. To achieve the best outcomes for physical distancing:

• implement measures in combination with measures for 4 square metres spacing, as set out above

• put signs around spas, baths and saunas as well as common area like change rooms to remind clients to keep 2 metres distance from each other

• create floor or seat markings that are 2 metres apart in saunas and other communal spaces

• require workers to use other methods such as mobile phone or radio to communicate rather than face to face interaction e.g. workers attending to a client who want to talk to reception, and

• arrange to have all of your workers’ equipment at their work station to avoid moving around the establishment, including cleaning products for equipment (i.e. disinfectant products and other suitable products that you may use)

You must also ensure that you perform regular and thorough cleaning and disinfection of areas that are used by multiple people in a day. See the cleaning page for more information.

Worker and client interactions and work tasks

Where possible, provide each person with 4 square metres of space in enclosed areas in accordance with general health advice or where required under public health directions in your province or state. For smaller client interaction rooms, such as massage rooms, where this is not possible, refer to what the rules are in your province or state.

• to achieve this, calculate the area of the enclosed space (length multiplied by width in metres) and divide by 4. This will provide you with the maximum number of people you should have in the space at any one time

To help you achieve 4 square metres of space per person (or where not reasonable, to achieve the maximum space per person) limit the number of workers and clients in your workplace by:

• providing extra time between appointments so there is no overlap of clients arriving and leaving the workplace or have different entrances and exits to avoid interaction

• placing signage which advises clients of the requirements and the number of people allowed in the particular space

• if possible, consider temporarily ceasing any walk-in services and require clients to book appointments before coming to the premises

• limiting the number of clients in waiting areas, particularly if your workplace accepts walk-in clients. Space out waiting chairs to keep them 2 metres apart. If the waiting area is full, request booked clients to wait in their car or elsewhere and request walk-in clients to return at a later time. Consider introducing a booking system for walk-in clients.

• requesting clients not to bring friends or family members to appointments. If this is not possible, request that they inform you at the time of booking the appointment or at a reasonable time before attending the appointment so you can account for this person when applying the 4 square metre rule

• contacting clients if appointments are running behind schedule to avoid them having to wait inside the workplace

• inviting clients to leave the premises promptly once they have completed their appointment (e.g. use language such as “I’ll let you go now, as I am expecting my next client and I want to keep you safe”), and

• reducing the number of clients permitted in a spa at any one time

To reduce the number of workers in the workplace at the one time you could:

• reduce the number of tasks to be completed each day, where possible

• postpone non-essential work (e.g. rearranging displays) or complete them before or after you open to clients, and

• split workers’ shifts to reduce the number of workers onsite at any given time. Schedule time between shifts so that there is no overlap of staff arriving at and leaving the workplace or have different entrances and exits to avoid interaction

At times other than providing services to a client’s face or body, direct workers and clients to keep 2 metres of distance between them in accordance with general health advice. To achieve the best outcomes for physical distancing:

• implement measures in combination with measures for 4 square metres spacing, as set out above

• put signs around the workplace and create wall or floor markings to identify 2 metres distance. Your staff could wear a badge as a visual reminder to each other and clients of physical distancing requirements

• limit physical interactions between workers and clients to only those that are necessary – e.g. do not provide refreshments to clients or only provide them with beverages in disposable cups, and request customers dispose of the cup themselves. Ask clients to wash their own hands or body before the service

• set up each client station or area with the necessary equipment, tools and products for the day’s services to prevent too much sharing between workers and minimise workers having to walk around to find the equipment, products and tools necessary for the service

• put up signs requiring customers to practice social distancing when using a spa or sauna service

• reduce the number of clients at the front desk by having clients pay and rebook elsewhere where possible – e.g. using wireless eftpos machine and other electronic devices, and

• limit physical interactions between workers and other persons at the site – e.g. by using contactless deliveries and limiting non-essential visitors

If possible, install shields between workers and clients, for example in nail areas install an appropriate screen between the worker and client with a cut out area to provide the service through.

If you are permitted to provide a service and it is practical and safe to do so, review the tasks and processes involved in that service that usually require close interaction and identify ways to modify these to increase physical distancing between workers.

Where not possible, reduce the time of the services, or cancel the longer services to reduce the amount of time workers spend in close contact with clients. Consider otherwise limiting the service you provide to those offerings that are lower risk to your workers and clients. Where physical distancing is not possible for services, use other control measures such as good hygiene, cleaning and appropriate PPE if necessary.

Layout of the workplace

You may need to redesign the layout of the workplace and your workflows to enable workers to keep at least 2 metres apart to continue performing their duties. This can be achieved by, where possible:

• creating specific pathways for workers and clients to use where possible – e.g. require workers to take a certain path each time they need to obtain a beauty product from the shelf.

• spacing out client stations or close down every second client station. You should also space out furniture used by clients in the waiting area

• considering floor and/or wall markings and signage to identify 2 metres distancing requirements, inside or outside the premises where possible.

• keep windows and doors open where possible, and

• ensure adequate ventilation, but if using fans, position them in a way so that air is not blown directly from one person to another

If changing the physical layout of the workplace, your layout must allow for workers and clients to enter, exit and move about the workplace both under normal working conditions and in an emergency without risks to their health and safety so far as is reasonably practicable.

Staff gatherings and training

Postpone or cancel non-essential gatherings, meetings or training.

• If gatherings, meetings or training are essential:

• use non face-to-face options to conduct – e.g. electronic communication such as tele and video conferencing

• if a non face-to-face option is not possible, ensure face-to-face time is limited, that is, make sure the gathering, meeting or training goes for no longer than it needs to

• hold the gathering, meeting or training in spaces that enable workers to keep at least 2 metres apart and with 4 square metres of space per person – e.g. outdoors or in large conference rooms

• limit the number of attendees in a gathering, meeting or training. This may require, for example, multiple training sessions to be held, and

• ensure adequate ventilation if held indoors to provide fresh air

Workplace facilities

• reduce the number of workers utilising staff common areas at a given time – e.g. by staggering meal breaks and start times

• spread out furniture in staff common areas. If changing the physical layout of the workplace, you must ensure the layout allows for workers to enter, exit and move about the workplace both under normal working conditions and in an emergency without risks to their health and safety so far as is reasonably practicable

• place signage about physical distancing around the workplace. Our website has links to a range of posters and resources to help remind workers and others of the risks of COVID-19 and the measures that are necessary to stop its spread. These posters can be placed around the workplace and in client-facing work environments (e.g. workplace entrances). Consideration needs to be given to how to communicate with workers and others for who English is not their first language. See our link tovtranslated information on COVID-19

• consider providing separate amenities for workers and others in the workplace – for example separate bathroom facilities for workers and clients

Lifts

• even if workers and members only spend a short amount of time in a lift each day, they are still at risk of being exposed to COVID-19 when using a lift

• there is no requirement to provide 4 square metres of space per person in lifts, however you must still ensure, as far as you reasonably can, that people maintain physical distancing in lifts and lift waiting areas

• safe use of lifts is best achieved through a combination of measures, determined in consultation with workers, other employers in the building and the building owner/manager. This includes:reducing the number of workers and members who need to use the lift at the same time (e.g. stagger class start and finish times)
  implementing physical distancing measures in the lift waiting area including queueing systems and advising of passenger limits for each lift, and
  ensuring that when in the lift people maintain physical distance to the extent possible and practice good hygiene including cough and sneezing etiquette and washing hands or using alcohol-based hand sanitiser after exiting the lift

• if workers and members are to use the stairs or emergency exits as alternatives to using lifts, you must consider if any new risks may arise (e.g. increased risk of slip trips and falls) and consider how other existing OHS measures will be impacted (e.g. emergency plans and procedures See also our information on emergency plans)

Deliveries and contractors attending the workplace

• non-essential visits to the workplace should be cancelled or postponed, for example sales representatives

• minimise the number of workers attending to deliveries and contractors as much as possible.

• develop a plan for deliveries minimising the interaction of delivery drivers with workers and clients, communicate this to delivery suppliers, drivers and employees

• delivery drivers and other contractors who need to attend the workplace, to provide maintenance or repair services or perform other essential activities, should be given clear instructions of your requirements while they are on site. Ensure that the 4 square metres per person can be achieved when these works are occurring and consider if these tasks can be undertaken when minimal staff and clients are in the workplace

• ensure handwashing facilities, or if not possible, alcohol-based hand sanitiser, is readily available for workers after physically handling deliveries

• direct visiting delivery drivers and contractors to remain in vehicles and use contactless methods such as mobile phones to communicate with your workers wherever possible

• direct visiting delivery drivers and contractors to use alcohol-based hand sanitiser before handling products being delivered

• use, and ask delivery drivers and contractors to use, electronic paper work where possible, to minimise physical interaction. Where possible, set up alternatives to requiring signatures. For instance, see whether a confirmation email or a photo of the loaded or unloaded goods can be accepted as proof of delivery or collection (as applicable). If a pen or other utensil is required for signature you can ask that the pen or utensil is cleaned or disinfected before use. For pens, you may wish to use your own

On-going review and monitoring

• if physical distancing measures introduce new health and safety risks (e.g. because they impact communication or mean that less people are doing a task) , you need to manage those risks too

• the introduction of new processes to comply with physical distancing requirements may also result in increased customer frustration leading to work related violence. You must manage this risk including through measures such as erecting clear signage and posters setting out the new physical distancing and other measures. You should also communicate with clients when booking their appointment to let them know there are different processes in place to ensure compliance with physical distancing requirements. Find out more about managing the risk of work-related violence

• put processes in place to regularly monitor and review the implementation of physical distancing measures to ensure they are being followed and remain effective

Do workers need to practice physical distancing when on a lunch break or when travelling to and from work?

Yes. Workers must always comply with any provincial or state public health directions or orders. This includes maintaining a physical distance of 2 metres between people. In some provinces and states there are strict limitations on gatherings in public places. This means that in some circumstances, workers cannot eat lunch together in a park or travel together in a vehicle to and from work. You should refer to your provincial or state health authority for further information on specific restrictions in place under public health directions or orders in your province or state.

My workers need to travel in a vehicle together for work purposes. How do they practice physical distancing?

You must reduce the number of workers travelling together in a vehicle for work purposes. You should ensure that only two people are in a 5 seat vehicle – the driver and a worker behind the front passenger seat. Only one worker should be in a single cab vehicle. These measures may mean:

• more of your vehicles are on the road at one time

• more workers are driving and for longer periods than usual (if driving by themselves)

Because of this, you should review your procedures and policies for vehicle maintenance and driver safety to ensure they are effective and address all possible OHS risks that arise when workers drive for work purposes. If workers are required to travel together for work purposes and the trip is longer than 15 minutes, air conditioning must be set to external airflow rather than to recirculation or windows should be opened for the duration of the trip. You must also clean vehicles more frequently, no matter the length of the trip, but at least following each use by workers. See also our information on Cleaning.

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