Will proposed body art guidelines needle businesses?

By Jamie Jones

“Body art” — including tattoos, permanent cosmetic procedures and piercings — has become a popular choice for self-expression.

But businesses in Georgia that perform these services have faced minimal regulation. Officials with the North Georgia Health District want to set “minimum standards” for sanitation, sterilization, training, permitting and inspections of body art businesses. The proposed regulations affect 12 businesses in Murray (two) and Whitfield (10) counties and cover tattooing, body piercing, cosmetic micropigmentation and body art done on the skin.

“Mainly because of the proliferation of new body art establishments,” said Ray King, district director of environmental health. “As you know, they’ve become quite common now and the practice has become really popular. We admit the number of diseases is not that large, the potential is still there and there’s a public expectation that these places should be licensed and inspected. We inspect restaurants, I think we should be inspecting these places, too, to make sure there are minimum standards for the prevention of communicable diseases.”

Discussion about the body art regulations began more than a year ago. King put together a committee of health department members and body art industry representatives throughout the district. Officials with the health department have met with several local tattoo business owners, including Rick and Candace Davis of Body Art in Dalton.

“We’re happy that this happened,” Candace Davis said.

She declined to comment further about the regulations.

King said the local boards of health in the six counties that comprise the North Georgia Health District will vote on the regulations. He hopes to have them passed by all local boards by the end of the year. The state Legislature and Department of Public Health started work on laws for body art locations in the mid-1990s, but officials decided to let local boards of health set their own regulations.

There will be an education period because the rules will not be effective until Jan. 1, 2009, King said. Some parts of the regulations, including facilities, will be “grandfathered in” as long as they don’t impact public health, he added.

The proposed permit fee for each establishment is $300, while individuals would pay $50 to be licensed. He also said the local boards of health have discretion to set fees. To open a body art establishment, the owner must provide proof of experience with a minimum of 1,000 hours within an 18-month period.

When asked if businesses would face a difficult time meeting the large number of regulations, King said, “If they don’t, they shouldn’t be in business. I’m sure there will be some people that don’t want to do it.”

The Whitfield County Health Department will host a public hearing on Friday from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. in its education room at 808 Professional Blvd. for individuals to comment on the proposed regulations. Written comments may be submitted during the hearing. For those not able to attend, written comments should be sent to Whitfield County Environmental Health Office, 1407 Burleyson Drive, Dalton, GA 30720. They should include a signature and a mailing address. They should be received by Monday.

Copies of the regulations are available at no charge at the county environmental health office. A review copy is also available at the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners office.

The Whitfield County Board of Health is expected to vote on the regulations at its Sept. 11 meeting.

A similar public hearing will be held by the Murray County Board of Health on Nov. 7 with the vote expected on Nov. 17. Details of that public hearing have not been announced.