Masks are No Longer Compulsory in Salons in England - So Should You Wear Them?

Last week the government guidance for close contact services in England was updated. Effective today, 19th July 20201, the legal requirements to wear a face-covering will be lifted. Furthermore, Social distancing rules (2 metres or 1 metre with additional mitigations) will be lifted and legal restrictions will be replaced with guidance to help people make their own informed judgements on how to keep themselves and others safe.

So bearing in mind that you no longer have to…should you? PBL Magazine supports mask wearing and keeping the public safe, so we’ve outlined the top reasons on why keeping your masks on we’ll be better for the greater good.

It’s still the recommended guidance

While wearing masks is no longer mandatory - it is still recommended by the government. With rising delta cases, keeping a mask on you and your client will keep your clients and your team safer. In lab tests with dummies, exposure to potentially infectious aerosols decreased by about 95% when they both wore tightly fitted masks. Every beauty professional has a responsibility to their clients and their team to provide a safe treatment and a safe working space - we believe that wearing a mask is part of creating a safe salon while we’re in the midst of a global pandemic.

Many have been wearing masks for years before COVID - nothing has to change.

Many professional therapists already wore face masks, especially where performing advanced aesthetic treatments or those treatments in close proximity to the client’s face. Wearing a mask was a health and safety rule before COVID and nothing has to change.

Beauty was one of the hardest hit sectors throughout the pandemic

The beauty industry found itself closed for over a year when the pandemic hit - being deemed by the government as a sector where covid infections would rise rapidly due to a lack of understanding of the stringent safety regulation in place. In the case that covid delta infections rise- or that of a new deadly/more infectious variant, beauty will be the first one to close if the rate of transmission in beauty salons is high. Keeping the rate of transmissions in salons low is a guarantee to the government that beauty does not require another lockdown.

Want to share your support for masking? Use one of our graphics to share on your grid with your clients!