5.1 Workplace health and safety basics
Whether you are working for yourself or for someone else, workplace health and safety is everyone’s responsibility. In Australia, there is specific WHS legislation in each State and Territory that outlines responsibilities and standards for safety in the workplace. All businesses must abide by these regulations and must have policies, procedures and systems in place to support requirements.
Everyone in the workplace must play their part to ensure our workplaces are safe. This means that as a brow artist, you have a duty of care to your clients, your colleagues and to yourself. Safe Work Australia has lots of useful information relating to safety in the workplace, and it is a resource you should become familiar with throughout your career. As a starting point, visit the following links to get an idea of the sorts of requirements that you must adhere to as a brow technician:
It is important that you keep up to date with legislation because ‘not knowing’ is not a reasonable defence. With the emergence of the global pandemic, the safety requirements for customer-facing services and roles had a major overhaul with a major focus on hygiene, personal protective equipment (PPE) and sanitation. While these focus areas have always been important to makeup artists, extra measures for all businesses were put in place. Sanitation with regard to brow enhancement services relates to the following:
- Wax applicators
- Brushes
- Tweezers
- Wax pots
- Trimming scissors
- Pencil sharpeners
- Spatulas
- Mascara wands
- Brow pencils
Your specific duties in accordance with WHS legislation will vary depending on whether or not you are the business owner, a worker or if you employ staff. At a minimum, each of us, as workers, have a legal responsibility to:
- Ensure our own health and safety
- Ensure the health and safety of others
- Comply with WHS policies and procedures
- Take reasonable care to ensure acts or omissions do not adversely affect the health and safety of others
- Comply with reasonable instructions
If you are not familiar with the WHS legislative framework in Australia and would like to learn more, watch the videos linked: