Saudi Arabia’s Municipal and Rural Affairs Ministry has issued anti-Coronavirus guidelines for barbers. Barbers and hair salons looking to reopen will have to comply with these guidelines. The guidelines include requirements and conditions to ensure customers and employees are protected. They specify customers should make appointments to avoid overcrowding and customers will have to wait outside shops until they are ready to be seen. While they are waiting, they will have to comply with social distancing. Employees must also wash their hands frequently with soap and warm water and be asked to do so. Personal protective equipment including face masks and gloves, face shields or glasses, barber lab coats, fabric jackets, plastic jackets and neck straps should also be used. Barbers should clean and disinfect surfaces every two hours as well as clean and disinfect shops in advance of opening. In addition, they should ensure hand soap is available in restrooms in sufficient quantities as well as washing tools and implements with hot water, soap and disinfectant daily and repeatedly. Customers cannot go to the barbers with anyone else. Employees in barbershops and salons must use new tools for each customer who should be served by one employee. Services provided in barbers have been restricted to haircuts and shaving. Body massages are banned. Customers should also bring their own shaving tools. Employees in beauty salons should inform clients about the importance of washing their hair in advance. They should also limit face-to-face communication with clients, prevent gatherings in the salon, cancel the use of fingerprint reading devices to record attendance of female employees and use alternative methods. They should also prevent customers from bringing companions into salons and make it compulsory for shops and salons to take customer data including names and mobile numbers for reference purposes. The measures also include using face shields or eyeglasses while washing and cleaning hair and skin and banning all massage or steam bath services in salons. Full story
