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What is work related contact dermatitis?

The main signs and symptoms are:

Dryness
Redness
Itching
Flaking/Scaling
Cracking/Blistering
Pain

Dermatitis is not ‘catching’- it can’t be passed from one person to another. It can develop at any time, or not at all - everyone is different.

There are two types of contact dermatitis: irritant contact dermatitis & allergic contact dermatitis.

Irritant contact dermatitis can flare up after a few contacts with strong chemicals like bleach. More commonly it develops gradually through frequent wet working or working with milder chemicals like shampoo.

Allergic contact dermatitis can develop quickly after only a few contacts with a substance like shampoos or colours. Sometimes it can take months or even years for the allergy to develop. Once you are allergic, you are allergic for life and this could happen at any time, even if you have had no problems previously in your career.

With allergic contact dermatitis, the things you can become allergic to at work might well also be in things you use at home - like your shampoo, or your household cleaners. So if you become allergic to something in the salon it could well affect all aspects of your life.

What causes dermatitis?

One of the main causes of dermatitis is wet working. You and your team are more at risk of developing it if you have your hands in contact with water for long periods of time in a day, over 2 hours for example. Or if your hands are wet several times a day, say if you shampoo 10 clients a day or more. This is why staff that spend their time doing a lot of the washing are more at risk.

The other main cause of dermatitis is contact with the chemicals in hairdressing products, when shampooing, colouring or bleaching, or in the products you use for cleaning up.

There are several ways that your hands can come into contact with water and products:

Washing/shampooing/colouring hair with bare hands
Handling equipment soaked in chemicals
Touching contaminated clothing, tools or containers
Splashing chemicals on to your skin when mixing or handling them
Aerosols and dust landing on your skin and on surfaces that you might touch

Prevent it

Here's how to wave goodbye to bad hand days. Five small steps to prevent dermatitis becoming a big problem:

Step 1

Wear disposable non-latex gloves when rinsing, shampooing, colouring, bleaching, etc.

Step 2

Dry your hands thoroughly with a soft cotton or paper towel.

Step 3

Moisturise after washing your hands, as well as at the start and end of each day. It's easy to miss fingertips, finger webs and wrists.

Step 4

Change gloves between clients. Make sure you don't contaminate your hands when you take them off.

Step 5

Check skin regularly for early signs of dermatitis.