Abu Dhabi-UAE: 19 December, 2017 – Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council (QCC), the entity responsible for developing quality infrastructure in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, has expanded the scope of its Beautician Conformity Scheme to cover eight new professions.

The professions include general workers, hairdressers, hairstylists, barbers, nail technicians, nail enhancement technicians, masseuses and massage therapists. The move comes as part of QCC’s efforts to guarantee the skills, competency and personal hygiene of beauty salon staff as well as protect the health and safety of customers.

QCC launched the Beautician Conformity Scheme in December 2016 in collaboration with the Public Health Department at Abu Dhabi City Municipality that regulates beauty salons. The scheme aims to ensure that beauticians possess the relevant qualifications, skills, and knowledge of mandatory health and safety requirements to serve their customers efficiently and optimally.

Sultan Al Mehairi, Director of Information Service and Engagement at QCC, said: 'In expanding the scope of the Beautician Conformity Scheme, QCC seeks to fulfil its mandate to develop and reinforce the quality infrastructure in Abu Dhabi in line with the directives of our wise leadership. We are confident that the move will translate into enhancing the quality of services across beauty salons, barbershops and hair and nail salons.'

Al Mehairi added: “Developed by a team of specialists comprising representatives of federal and local government entities as well as beauty establishments, the Beautician Conformity Scheme incorporates global best practices and regulatory requirements. Following a review of the progress made since its implementation, we decided to expand the scope of the scheme to span the full spectrum of professions and services in the fast-growing beauty salon industry. The expansion will allow us to meet the training needs of the targeted segments within a set time frame.”

Abu Dhabi City Municipality, Al Ain City Municipality and Al Dhafra Region Municipality supported QCC in its efforts to drive awareness about the conformity scheme and encourage employees to attend training courses and obtain the conformity certificates.

Earlier, Abu Dhabi City Municipality (ADM) launched an awareness campaign and distributed leaflets on the trainings courses offered to beauticians to become qualified professionals in line with the highest international standards. The campaign aimed at increasing customer satisfaction with the services offered by beauty salons as well as educating beauty salon staff about the importance of certifications and applicable laws.

For its part, Al Ain City Municipality (AACM) actively participated in creating awareness about the beautician conformity scheme by highlighting its objectives and distributing awareness materials across the salons and beauty centers in Al Ain. AACM also educated its employees from the Monitoring and Inspection Department about the certification scheme in preparation for the second phase of its awareness drive, which targets owners of beauty salons and centers.

The Municipality of Al Dhafra Region also marked ‘Haircutting Safety Week’ to enhance the professional skills of staff at hairdressing salons and beauty centers and develop their skills through offering them both theoretical and practical courses. These courses covered health, technical and administrative skills based on the nature of tasks undertaken by the trainees and included distribution of campaign awareness leaflets, as well as conducting lectures for the representatives of beauty centers and salons. 

Al Mehairi also thanked Abu Dhabi City Municipality for its continued support of QCC’s efforts to enhance the qualifications of beauty salon professionals through making training courses and certification programmes a mandatory requirement.

The beautician training programme is divided into five phases that cover health and safety training, as well as theoretical and practical tests to assess the personnel’s knowledge, capacities and skills. Throughout the certification period, the beauty professionals undergo continuous performance monitoring.

The participants of the training programmes acquire crucial knowledge of health and safety to perform their tasks efficiently and hygienically in line with best-in-class standards. The topics include emergency and evacuation procedures, personal hygiene, types of bacteria, viruses and skin diseases, methods of disease transmission and prevention, cleaning and sterilising salon equipment, and hygiene requirements for laundry and equipment storage.

In addition, the trainees learn about various types of waste produced by beauty salons and the correct methods of waste disposal to protect the environment and prevent pollution.

Qualified personnel who fulfil the requirements of the scheme receive a certificate from QCC and a professional license from the relevant authorities in their respective fields.

QCC confirmed its preparedness to receive certification applications from salon personnel and clarified that prior to submitting applications, applicants need to pass an assessment test with one of the Training & assessment institutes registered with the Council.

The beauty salon industry in Abu Dhabi employs 16,161 workers including 6,532 barbers, 906 hairdressers, 2,783 hairstylists, 228 general beauticians, 848 makeup artists, 2,857 nail technicians, 1,947 masseuses and 60 massage therapists.

The Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council was established in 2009 to raise the quality of the emirate’s exports and locally traded products while protecting the interests of consumers and supporting the UAE’s competitive economy. QCC empowers regulators to establish and implement product safety, legal metrology and conformity schemes. The Council also sets guidelines and benchmarks to verify that products manufactured and traded in Abu Dhabi conform to the highest quality standards.