Sanitation Management in Salons in the Upper West Region: An Assessment of Disease Prevention Strategies and Safety Promotion Measures

Abstract

The fast growing beauty services provision in the entire beauty industry coupled with the widespread existence of preventable diseases in the country call for concern for sanitation issues in the sector. As the sector contributes significantly to employment and income generation for many of the unemployed, due attention is required for the health of the people. This research was conducted to assess sanitary practices in the salon, promote operational safety and prevent disease infection among clients in the beauty industry in the Upper West Region of Ghana. The research adopted descriptive studies with the cross-sectional design where a sample size of 211 and 200 respondents for both clients and practitioners respectively were interviewed.  Together with focus group discussions from beautician associations, the data was teased out into the SPSS for conversion into graphs, charts and tables for the analysis. Low literacy rates among beauticians coupled with poor sanitation practices. The spread of diseases could possibly result from multiple usage of disposables materials and cover cloths. Equipment and tools sanitizing were found to be highly organized while feeling of safety among clients were very high.

Keywords: sanitation, disease infection, saety, health conscious or promotion, irregularities