Hairdressing is big business. Most people visit a hairdresser at least a couple of times a year and many visit a lot more frequently. There are over 35,000 hairdressing salons in the UK, and despite the industry turning over billions of pounds every year, hairdressing remains a completely unregulated profession, even though hairdressers make use of various potentially dangerous products.
Considering the risk to customers, it's rather surprising that anyone can offer hairdressing services to the public, even if they lack training, qualifications and experience.
Hair salon injuries that could lead to compensation
A 2009 survey by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers found that the vast majority of hair salons were negligently failing in their duty of care to many customers. Unfortunately, this doesn't just mean that people return from the hairdressers with a bad haircut, sometimes far more serious consequences can occur, and the effects can be long lasting. Some of the complications that can arise include:
- Hair treatments and dyes mixed to the wrong strength causing skin irritations and burns
- Failure to remove chemical products from a client’s hair at the right time, again leading to irritation and burns
- Chemicals in hair products not being allergy tested on the client prior to treatment and then causing a reaction on the skin or hair
- Hair damage if chemicals are left on too long. A bad reaction can even result in temporary or permanent baldness
Many people pay a visit to the hairdresser before an important event such as a wedding or a family party, which makes these incidents even more distressing.
This is what makes hairdressing, as well as other beauty treatment claims, that much more painful for the claimants. They go into the treatment hoping that it will help them feel better about their appearance, but instead they can have their self-esteem completely destroyed.
Becasue there's a risk you may suffer an adverse reaction, it's therefore very important that you ask for a patch test before having any chemical treatment on your hair. Salons should carry out skin patch tests on new customers to check for well-known allergies such an allergy to hair dye. A small amount of hair dye should be tested on a patch of skin, ideally 24 hours before the treatment is due to take place.
Conscientious hairdressers should also offer a hair strand test, when required, to ensure chemicals in styling products will not damage hair follicles.
Claim for hair salon injuries with Thompsons
If you have been injured whilst at the hairdresser then contact Thompsons even if you are not sure whether you have a valid claim for compensation. Our specialist personal injury lawyers will be happy to chat things through, and help put you on the right track towards receiving the fairest amount of compensation possible.
So, if you've been injured through no fault of your own and require expert advice and guidance from experienced solicitors, call us on 0800 0891331 to see how much you could claim.
