Tattooing Code of Practice

Our business site

• Our business site is clean and hygienic.
• Using single-use and disposable instruments or instruments that you can easily sterilise.
• Keeping surfaces clean and sanitary.
• Wearing gloves and protective equipment.
• We are complying with minimum health and safety standards.

Working with our customers

Talking with our customers before starting any treatment to let them know what the process will be and to discuss any potential risk to their health.

Giving appropriate aftercare instructions to your customer, and checking that they understand them.

Keeping it clean and providing a safe service

Sterilising the equipment

• We sterilise all equipment that is meant to be sterilised in class B autoclave.
• The sterilisation of equipment used in tattooing includes the sterilisation of needles, needle bars, tubes and tube tips. We use a new sterilised needle set for each new customer.
• We do not reuse single-use disposable items for any reason. Nor do we reuse tattoo needles under any circumstances. After use, you must immediately dispose of all needles, razors and other sharps and place them in sharps containers.

Preparing the skin

• To be tattooed area is disinfected by using Isopropyl Alcohol wipes, shaved and disinfected again.
• Stencil is applied by using stencil solution specifically manufactured for its purpose.

Use of dyes, pigments and solutions

When carrying out tattooing on a customer we:

• use only dye, pigment or solution, that we have poured into a clean, sterilised container holding enough of the liquid you need for carrying out the tattoo on one customer only
• only use the decanted dye, pigment or solution while you are doing the tattoo
• use only ink specifically manufactured for tattooing purposes.

Disposing of used dyes, pigments and solutions

We dispose of any remaining decanted dye, pigment or solution residue, and discard the container by using an approved bio-hazard waste collection service.

We do not use any dye, pigment or solution residue, remaining on the completion of a tattoo, on any other customer.

Disposing of other materials

We dispose of any mattress, squab, cushion, or linen supply that comes into contact with blood or body fluids.

Best practice: some additional practices

Single-use disposable barriers

Covering instruments, such as tattoo machines and associated clip cords, with an effective sterile barrier:

• a single-use disposable plastic bag, or
• a liner that is discarded after each use.

This cover provides an extra level of hygiene and acts as a barrier, limiting the amount of contamination to the machine.

Using safe dyes, pigments and solutions

• We do not use any dye or pigment that has passed its expiry date.
• MSDS/SDS product sheets for all inks, dyes and pigments that we use are available for your information or the scrutiny of medical professionals.