The owner of a tanning salon where a schoolgirl suffered severe burns has been ordered to pay £6,000 in costs.
According to the BBC, Mr James Hadley admitted to five health and safety breaches at the Lextan Salon in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan. The court was keen to stress that the injuries suffered by the girl were not as a direct result of the offences and that the charges levelled at Mr Hadley did not relate to her injury but Judge John Charles made it very clear that there was a degree of recklessness in operating an unmanned salon.
The injured girl suffered first degree burns after remaining on a tanning machine for 19 minutes and had to remain in hospital overnight following the incident. This in turn prompted the inspection of the premises.
There is currently no law in England and Wales governing the use of unmanned tanning salons, with voluntary membership of The Sunbed Association and adherence to their Code of Practice the closest thing to legislation on the matter. However, legislation is now up and running in Scotland which has already banned the use of unmanned coin operated machiness and also the use of machines by those aged under 18.
Commenting on the verdict, Vale of Glamorgan environmental health officer Marc Adams-Jones was clearly pleased, stating that he hoped the verdict sent out a message to other unmanned tanning salons that they provide an “imminent risk to health”.
This judgement against Mr Hadley indicates that a failure to provide acceptable standards of health and safety will not be tolerated, especially in an unsupervised environment where health and safety is obviously even more crucial to prevent injuries occurring. It may also indicate a move towards legislation regarding the issue of unmanned tanning salons in England and Wales.
