Dáil Éireann Debate, Friday - 7 September 2018
512. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the number of inspections carried out by the Health and Safety Authority in tattoo and body piercing businesses in each of the years 2008 to 2017 and to date in 2018, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35840/18]
View answer522. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation her views on the fact that there is no regulation of tattoo and body piercing businesses here; her plans to introduce regulation to ensure these businesses meet minimum standards and basic training standards; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35838/18]
View answer523. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the number of complaints made to the Health and Safety Authority relating to tattoo and body piercing businesses in each of the years 2008 to 2017 and to date in 2018; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35839/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 512, 522 and 523 together.
In Ireland, the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) regulates tattoo and body piercing businesses, as places of work, under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005. Tattoo and body piercing shops are also currently encompassed by the HSA’s BeSmart system (https://www.besmart.ie/eSMART), which provides an online risk assessment and safety statement tool for businesses.
Tattoo inks are regulated under EU Regulations. Tattoo inks and permanent make-up are mixtures of several chemical substances. Since 2003 regulations on the use of tattoo inks were laid down by the Council of Europe. These regulations were revised in Resolution ResAP 2008 (https://rm.coe.int/16805d3dc4), which lists substances which should not be used in tattoo inks/permanent makeup. Inks used for tattooing should, at a minimum, fulfil those requirements.
The European Commission has recently tasked the European Chemical Agency with assessing the risks of substances in tattoo inks to human health and to also examine the need for an EU-wide restriction on their use. As a result, a restriction proposal was prepared to regulate specific hazardous substances present in tattoo inks so that they are safe. There is no intention to ban tattoo inks or tattooing. The restriction will significantly reduce the potential health risks for people getting new tattoos, such as allergic reactions to tattoo inks and possible long-term effects from exposure to hazardous substances injected under the skin.
Manufacturers and importers of tattoo inks must also comply with obligations under the EU REACH and CLP Regulations, which govern chemical safety. The regulations require them to register the individual substances if they are manufactured or imported in quantities at or above one tonne per year and to classify the substances so that formulators of tattoo inks can use the information to then classify the mixture and ensure the labelling and packaging requirements are also met. Companies selling tattoo inks must provide a safety data sheet, which gives the user information on its composition and safe use. Further details on tattoo inks can be found at the ECHA webpage - https://chemicalsinourlife.echa.europa.eu/are-tattoos-dangerous.
The Department of Health and the Health Service Executive (HSE) are also currently finalising best practice guidelines on infection prevention and control for tattooing and body piercing. The purpose of the document is to provide guidance in relation to infection control, and is aimed at achieving the highest standards of safety and prevention. The guidelines are expected to be published later this year. The HSA actively contributed material in relation to occupational and chemical requirements before and during the public consultation.
My Department is not considering preparing any specific legislation regarding these businesses as it is not considered necessary. The principal issue is public health and therefore any new regulations for these businesses would be a matter for the Department of Health.
Complaints formally recorded by the HSA between 2008 and 2018 in the tattooing/ body piercing section are set out in the following table. My Department and the HSA would also point out that several of these topics including dirty needles and poor housekeeping are expected to be covered in the draft Department of Health guide on infection prevention and control for tattooing and body piercing practitioners and businesses.
|
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
|
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2009: Using dirty products to tattoo and pierce members of the public.
2010: Smoking in the workplace and related fire hazards.
2016: Unsafe working at height on roof of tattoo business.
2017: Dirty tattoo needles being used.
2018: Dirty tattoo needles and poor housekeeping.
Inspections carried out by the HSA at tattoo/body piercing businesses between 2008 and 2018 are set out in the following table.
As tattoo parlours/body piercing premises do not have a unique NACE (Economic Sector) code, these types of premises cannot be individually identified on the HSA’s inspection database. The HSA’s database does allow for employer names and location addresses to be searched using the key words, “tattoo” and “piercing” and inspections identified using these search terms returned the following list of inspections completed:
|
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
It should be noted that the inspection in 2016 related to construction work on a tattoo parlour and did not have any connection to the work of tattooing or body piercing.
