Body Art

Section:

1. Purpose & Scope
2. Definitions     
3. Exemptions      
4. Restrictions            
5. Operation of Body Art Establishments    
6. Standards of Practice   
7. Injury Reports  
8. Complaints
9. Application for Body Art Establishment Permit
10. Application for Body Art Practitioner Permit    
11. Grounds for Denial of Permit, Revocation of Permit or Refusal to Renew Permit
12. Grounds for Suspension of Permit
13. Procedure for Hearings
14. Unauthorized Practice of Body Art
15. Severability
16. Effective Date

2. Definitons

• Aftercare means written instructions given to the client, specific to the body art procedure(s) rendered, about caring for the body art and surrounding area, including information about when to seek medical treatment, if necessary.
• Applicant means any person who applies to the Board of Health for either a body art establishment permit or practitioner permit.
• Autoclave means an apparatus for sterilization utilizing steam pressure at a specific temperature over a period of time.
• Autoclaving means a process which results in the destruction of all forms of microbial life, including highly resistant spores, by the use of an autoclave for a minimum of thirty minutes at 20 pounds of pressure (PSI) at a temperature of 270 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Bloodborne Pathogens Standard means OSHA Guidelines contained in 29 CFR 1910.1030, entitled "Occupational Exposure to Bloodborne Pathogens.”
• Board of Health or Board means the Board of Health that has jurisdiction in the community in which a body art establishment is located including the Board or officer having like powers and duties in towns where there is no Board of Health.
• Body Art means the practice of physical body adornment by permitted establishments and practitioners using, but not limited to, the following techniques: body piercing, tattoo-ing, cosmetic tattooing, branding, and scarification. This definition does not include practices that are considered medical procedures by the Board of Registration in Medicine, such as implants under the skin, which procedures are prohibited.
• Body Art Establishment or Establishment means a location, place, or business that has been granted a permit by the Board, whether public or private, where the practices of body art are performed, whether or not for profit.
• Body Art Practitioner or Practitioner means a specifically identified individual who has been granted a permit by the Board to perform body art in an establishment that has been granted a permit by the Board.
• Body Piercing means puncturing or penetrating the skin of a client with presterilized single_use needles and the insertion of presterilized jewelry or other adornment into the opening. This definition excludes piercing of the earlobe with a presterilized single-use stud-and-clasp system manufactured exclusively for ear-piercing.
• Branding means inducing a pattern of scar tissue by use of a heated material (usually metal) to the skin, making a serious burn, which eventually becomes a scar.
• Client means a member of the public who requests a body art procedure at a body art establishment.
• Contaminated Waste means waste as defined in 105 CMR 480.000: Storage and Disposal of Infectious or Physically Dangerous Medical or Biological Waste, State Sanitary Code, Chapter VIII
• Department means the Department of Public Health or its authorized representatives
• Disinfectant means a product registered as a disinfectant by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
• Disinfection means the destruction of disease-causing microorganisms on inan-imate objects or surfaces, thereby rendering these objects safe for use or handling.
• Ear piercing means the puncturing of the lobe of the ear with a presterilized single-use stud-and-clasp ear-piercing system following the manufacturer's instructions.
• Equipment means all machinery, including fixtures, containers, vessels, tools, devices, implements, furniture, display and storage areas, sinks, and all other apparatus and appurtenances used in connection with the operation of a body art establishment.
• Hand Sink means a lavatory equipped with hot and cold running water under pressure, used solely for washing hands, arms, or other portions of the body.
• Hot water means water that attains and maintains a temperature 110º-130ºF.
• Instruments Used for Body Art means hand pieces, needles, needle bars, and other instruments that may come in contact with a client's body or may be exposed to bodily fluids during any body art procedure.
• Invasive means entry into the client’s body either by incision or insertion of any instruments into or through the skin or mucosa, or by any other means intended to puncture, break, or otherwise compromise the skin or mucosa.
• Jewelry means any ornament inserted into a newly pierced area, which must be made of surgical implant_grade stainless steel; solid 14k or 18k white or yellow gold, niobium, titanium, or platinum; or a dense, low_porosity plastic, which is free of nicks, scratches, or irregular surfaces and has been properly sterilized prior to use.
• Minor means any person under the age of eighteen (18) years.
• Mobile structure means a structure capable of relocation and not set permanently on a footing or foundation
• Operator means any person who individually, or jointly or severally with others, owns, or controls an establishment, but is not a body art practitioner.
• Permit means Board approval in writing to either (1) operate a body art establish-ment or (2) operate as a body art practitioner within a body art establishment. Board approval shall be granted solely for the practice of body art pursuant to these model regulations. Said permit is exclusive of the establishment’s compliance with other licensing or permitting requirements that may exist within the Board’s jurisdiction.
• Person means an individual, any form of business or social organization or any other non_governmental legal entity, including but not limited to corporations, partnerships, limited_liability companies, associations, trusts or unincorporated organizations.
• Physician means an individual licensed as a qualified physician by the Board of Registration in Medicine pursuant to M.G.L. c. 112 § 2.
• Procedure surface means any surface of an inanimate object that contacts the client's unclothed body during a body art procedure, skin preparation of the area adjacent to and including the body art procedure, or any associated work area which may require sanitizing.
• Sanitary means clean and free of agents of infection or disease.
• Sanitize means the application of a U.S. EPA registered sanitizer on a cleaned surface in accordance with the label instructions.
• Scarification means altering skin texture by cutting the skin and controlling the body’s healing process in order to produce wounds, which result in permanently raised wheals or bumps known as keloids.
• Seasonal structure or location means a structure or location not designed, located, or intended for use year round.
• Sharps means any object, sterile or contaminated, that may intentionally or accidentally cut or penetrate the skin or mucosa, including, but not limited to, needle devices, lancets, scalpel blades, razor blades, and broken glass.
• Sharps Container means a puncture-resistant, leak-proof container that can be closed for handling, storage, transportation, and disposal and that is labeled with the International Biohazard Symbol.
• Single Use Items means products or items that are intended for one-time, one-person use and are disposed of after use on each client, including, but not limited to, cotton swabs or balls, tissues or paper products, paper or plastic cups, gauze and sanitary coverings, razors, piercing needles, scalpel blades, stencils, ink cups, and protective gloves.
• Sterilize means the use of a physical or chemical procedure to destroy all microbial life including highly resistant bacterial endospores.
• Tattoo means the indelible mark, figure or decorative design introduced by insertion of dyes or pigments into or under the subcutaneous portion of the skin.
• Tattooing means any method of placing ink or other pigment into or under the skin or mucosa by the aid of needles or any other instrument used to puncture the skin, resulting in permanent coloration of the skin or mucosa. This term includes all forms of cosmetic tattooing.
• Temporary means of thirty (30) days or shorter duration, commencing at the permit issue date and expiring thirty days later.
• Ultrasonic Cleaning Unit means a unit approved by the Board, physically large enough to fully submerge instruments in liquid, which removes all foreign matter from the instruments by means of high frequency oscillations transmitted through the contained liquid.
• Universal Precautions means a set of guidelines and controls, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as "Guidelines for Prevention of Transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) to Health_Care and Public_Safety Workers" in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) (MMWR), June 23, 1989, Vo1.38 No. S_6, and as "Recommendations for Preventing Transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Hepatitis B Virus to Patients During Exposure_Prone Invasive Procedures" in MMWR, July 12,1991, Vo1.40, No. RR_8. This method of infection control requires the employer and the employee to assume that all human blood and specified human body fluids are infectious for HIV, HBV, and other blood pathogens. Precautions include hand washing; gloving; personal protective equipment; injury prevention; and proper handling and disposal of needles, other sharp instruments, and blood and body fluid_contaminated products.     

4. Restrictions

1. No tattooing, piercing of genitalia, branding or scarification shall be performed on a person under the age of 18.
    
2. Body piercing, other than piercing the genitalia, may be performed on a person under the age of 18 provided that the person is accompanied by a properly identified parent, legal custodial parent or legal guardian who has signed a form consenting to such procedure
    
3. All piercing, tattooing, or other forms of body art proposed to be performed in a mobile, seasonal, or temporary structure or location shall comply with the following regulations;
   1. All applications must be received by the Board of Health a minimum of seven (7) days prior to the proposed operational date, excluding weekends and holidays.
   2. The facility must be available and pass a full inspection in the Town of Essex a minimum of forty eight (48) hours prior to the proposed operational date, excluding weekends and holidays.
   3. Copies of all establishment recordkeeping as required in 5(E) shall be submitted to the Board of Health within twenty four (24) hours of the last day of operation. This information shall be kept confidential at the Essex Board of Health office for a minimum of three (3) years.
   4. All Body Art Regulations in effect in the Town of Essex must be met.

11. Grounds for Denial of Permit, Revocation of Permit or Refusal to Renew Permit

• any actions which would indicate that the health or safety of the public would be at risk;
• fraud, deceit or misrepresentation in obtaining a permit, or its renewal;
• criminal conduct which the Board determines to be of such a nature as to render the establishment, practitioner or applicant unfit to practice body art as evidenced by criminal proceedings resulting in a conviction, guilty plea, or plea of nolo contendere or an admission of sufficient facts;
• any present or past violation of the Board’s regulations governing the practice of body art;
• practicing body art while the ability to practice is impaired by alcohol, drugs, physical disability or mental instability;
• being habitually drunk or being dependent on, or a habitual user of narcotics, barbiturates, amphetamines, hallucinogens, or other drugs having similar effects;
• knowingly permitting, aiding or abetting an  unauthorized person to perform activities requiring a permit;
• continuing to practice while his/her permit is lapsed, suspended, or revoked; and
• having been disciplined in another jurisdiction in any way by the proper permitting authority for reasons substantially the same as those set forth in the Board's regulations.
• other just and sufficient cause which the Board may determine would render the establishment, practitioner or applicant unfit to practice body art;

13. Procedure for Hearings

14. Unauthorized Practice of Body Art
The Board shall refer to the appropriate District Attorney, Attorney General, or other law enforcement official any incidents of unauthorized practice of body art.