Promoting the autonomous implemen- tation of the European framework agree- ment on occupational health and safety in the hairdressing sector

Abstract

In their daily work, hairdressers have skin contact with a large number of poten-tially skin-damaging chemicals, which entail various work-related health risks. Research has shown that up to 70% of hairdressers experience work-related skin damage, most commonly contact dermatitis of the hands, at some point in their career. The present work displays the results of a series of sys-tematic literature reviews on the health risk from the exposure of hairdressers in rela-tion to hair cosmetic products, which were carried out from December 2020 to May 2022 by a consortium of five project part-ners from Germany, Denmark, Croatia and the Netherlands. Based on the findings, a number of recommendations are made re-garding preventive and regulatory measures for future consideration. The results of the project clearly show that the frequency of hair/nail cosmetic product use by consum-ers is not suitable for adequately depicting occupational exposure of hairdressers. A health risk assessment based on consumer exposure therefore underestimates the occupational risks for hairdressers. An im-proved risk assessment for skin irritants and in particular potential skin sensitizers in hairdressing products, which would con-sider the increased exposure of hairdressers compared to consumers, would be a big step forward. Only in this way can the actual daily stress on the skin in the hairdressing trade be mapped and established as a starting point for the targeted design of preventive measures in the sense of sustainable risk management.