| County supervisors to take into consideration ordinance expanding regulation of body art businesses
A proposed ordinance that would impose more regulations on tattoo and body piercing parlors and other body art facilities goes before the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday for consideration. Jerry Brown signed into law the Safe Body Art Act of 2011 (AB300), which tightens up regulations for body art facilities by requiring practitioners who apply tattoos, body piercings, permanent makeup and even branding to register annually with their counties or cities. The proposed ordinance would be consistent with the new state law, and also require body art practitioners to undergo blood-borne pathogen training, said Corwin Porter, division chief for the county Department of Public Health. Practitioners see the good and bad in more government regulation. Specialized training in blood-borne pathogens and tightening up regulations on sanitation, which include proper replacement, disposal and sterilization of needles and the mandatory wearing of latex gloves when performing body art, is to deter the spread of viruses and infections including hepatitis, HIV, and staph, Porter said. "The pros is that it'll hopefully shut down a lot of these guys that are tattooing out of their home or garage and just spreading around a bunch of viruses and staph infections which are just rampant around here," said Eric Olguin, 33, a tattoo artist who works at Tattoo Revolution in Redlands. The downside, Olguin said, is that more government regulation creates more legwork and adds additional expenses, which will make it harder for for some businesses just starting out to get off the ground. The proposed ordinance is expected to generate roughly $55,000 in annual revenue in its first year. County supervisors to take into consideration ordinance expanding regulation of body art businesses |
Tuesday, 8 May 2012
County supervisors to take into consideration ordinance expanding regulation of body art businesses
