[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Health
of the Town of Sterling 2-8-1990. Amendments noted where applicable.]
Chapter 140 of the Massachusetts General Laws,
§§ 51 to 53, provides as follows:
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§ 51. No person shall practice manicuring
or massage or conduct an establishment for the giving of vapor baths
for the hire or reward, or advertise or hold himself out as being
engaged in the business of manicuring, massage or the giving of said
baths without receiving a license therefor from the board of health
of the town where the said occupation is to be carried on. The board
of health may grant the license upon such terms and conditions, and
may make such rules and regulations in regard to the carrying on of
the occupation so licensed, as it deems proper, and may revoke any
license granted by it for such cause as it deems sufficient, and without
a hearing provided, that a person licensed to massage or to conduct
an establishment for the giving of vapor baths in any town, may at
the request of a physician attend patients in any other town in the
commonwealth without taking out an additional license.
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§ 52. Members of the police department
of any town may enter and inspect any premises in that town used for
manicuring or massage or the giving of vapor baths.
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§ 53. Whoever violates any provisions
of Section 51 or any rule or regulation made under authority hereof,
or prevents or hinders any member of a police force from exercising
the authority conferred upon him by Section 52 shall be punished by
a fine of not more than one hundred dollars or by imprisonment for
not more than six months, or by both.
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As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Any method of pressure on or friction against or stroking,
rubbing, tapping, pounding, vibrating or stimulating of the external
soft parts of the human body with the hands and/or with the aid of
any object or mechanical or electrical apparatus or appliance, with
or without any supplementary aids such as rubbing alcohol, liniments,
antiseptics, oils, powders, creams, lotions, ointments or other similar
preparations commonly used in this practice. For purposes of this
definition, the use of any aids or processes used or offered as supplementary
or incidental to the above, including heat lamps, hot and cold packs,
tubs, showers, cabinet bath or steam and dry heat baths, shall be
considered a part of the massage.
Any establishment, by whatever name called, where any person
engages in or carries on or permits to be engaged in or carried on
any of the activities of massage, as defined in the practice of massage
as herein defined.
Any person, who for any consideration whatsoever, engages
in the practice of massage as herein defined. Such terms are used
interchangeably in this chapter.
Any individual and, unless the context clearly requires otherwise,
any corporation, partnership, association, joint-stock company or
combination of individuals of whatever form or character.
A school or institution of learning which has, for its purpose,
the teaching of the theory, practice, method, profession or work of
massage including anatomy, physiology, hygiene and professional ethics
and which is approved by the Board of Health of the Town of Sterling
and provides a resident course of study with not less than 500 hours
of classroom study and practice, given in not less than three calendar
months, to be successfully completed before issuing any certificate
of graduation.
The practice of massage shall be governed by
the following terms, conditions, rules and regulations.
No person shall engage in, conduct or carry
on or permit to be conducted or carried on, in or upon any premises
in the Town, the operation of a massage establishment without first
having obtained a license to operate a massage establishment from
the Board of Health.
Applications for licenses to practice massage,
for hire or reward, or to advertise or hold one's self out as being
engaged in the business of massage in the Town of Sterling shall be
made as follows:
A.
Application shall be made to the Board of Health and
shall supply in proper form all information requested by the Board.
B.
The application of a minor must be accompanied by
a written letter or statement showing that the application has been
made with the knowledge and consent of the minor's parent or guardian.
C.
The Board of Health shall determine that the applicant
has successfully completed at least 250 hours of study at a recognized
school as defined in this chapter or is a member in good standing
of the American Massage Therapy Association.
On the approval of any application by the Board
of Health, and on the payment by the applicant of a fee of $25 for
each license, a license will be issued authorizing the licensee to
continue in business until the 31st day of December next following
the issue of the license, unless such license be sooner revoked.
A.
Rooms.
(1)
This section shall not be construed to prevent the
massage of any person in his or her own proper place of abode or in
any hospital or other place for the treatment of the sick.
(2)
All rooms used in the conduct of the business by any
person licensed to practice massage shall be well lighted and ventilated.
(3)
The room or premises occupied by any person licensed
to practice massage shall be provided with an adequate supply of running
water and an adequate supply of hot water constantly during hours
of business; and every such room, and all furniture and equipment
therein, shall be kept clean at all times.
(4)
Every room used for the reception or treatment of
the patrons shall be so located and arranged as to afford adequate
fire protection and means of escape in case of fire.
B.
Equipment.
(1)
All instruments and devices used by any person licensed
to practice massage for direct application to the parts of bodies
of patrons, or for holding materials to be applied to parts of the
bodies, shall, so far as practicable, be such as can readily be kept
clean and sterile, and shall be kept clean and as nearly sterile as
circumstances permit. Adequate provision shall be made for cleaning
and sterilizing the same.
(2)
Robes, sheets, blankets, and pillow cases, which come
into direct contact with the bodies of the patrons, and all towels
and napkins, shall after having been used and before being used again
be laundered in such a manner as to insure effective sterilization.
(3)
No unsterilized part of a percussor, vibrator, or
other mechanical appliance shall be applied directly to the skin of
a patron, but the part of the body treated shall be covered with a
clean towel or else the instrument shall be covered in a similar manner.
C.
Clients. Prior to the giving of a massage, all clients
shall be questioned as to whether or not they have any condition which
may contraindicate the giving of a massage.
D.
Personnel. Every person licensed to practice massage
shall thoroughly cleanse his or her hands by washing immediately before
serving any client.
E.
Hours. No establishment for the giving of massage
shall be kept open except between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 10:00
p.m. unless specially authorized by the Board of Health.
F.
No alcohol. No alcoholic beverages or other intoxicants
shall be displayed, served, ingested or sold as a part of the massage
business of said massage establishment.
Any person licensed to practice massage in the
Town of Sterling shall maintain records of the name and address of
all clients and location at which the massage was performed. The licensee
shall make these records available for inspection by the Board of
Health if the Board so requests in writing.
A.
Other professionals. This chapter shall not apply
to any school, hospital, nursing home or sanitarium operating in accordance
with the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, not to any person
holding a valid certificate or license to practice the healing arts
or to practice podiatry, physical therapy, midwifery, nursing, dentistry,
dental hygiene or optometry, or to engage in the occupation of a barber,
hairdresser or cosmetician under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
provided that the activities of such person are confined to those
for which the certificate or license is granted; nor shall this chapter
apply to any person lawfully acting under their supervision or control;
nor shall it prohibit the furnishing of assistance in the case of
emergency.
B.
Persons licensed by other communities. A person licensed
to practice massage or conduct an establishment for giving massage
in any other Town in the commonwealth may, at the request of a physician,
attend patients, specified by the physician, in Sterling. The licensed
person shall submit to the Board of Health office a copy of his/her
license from another community and written confirmation of the physician's
request.
Every person licensed to practice massage will
be given a certificate to that effect, which shall bear the signature
of the licensee; and the licensee shall keep this certificate in his/her
possession whenever and wherever he or she may be engaged in the practice
of massage, and when requested shall show such certificate to any
legally authorized public officer.
The continuance of any license now in force
or hereafter granted is conditioned upon the observance by the licensee
of all laws, ordinances and regulations, orders, terms and conditions
relating to the conduct of the practice of massage. A license may
also be revoked if any false statement has been made in the application
for such license.
Any person, who for any consideration whatsoever,
engages in the practice of massage as herein defined without a license
or operates a massage establishment as herein defined without a license
shall be punished by a fine of not more than $100 or imprisonment
for not more than 60 days or both in accordance with MGL c. 140, § 53.
If any clause, section, paragraph, sentence
or phrase of these rules and regulation shall be decided invalid for
any reason whatsoever, such decision shall not affect the remaining
portions of these regulations, which shall remain in full force and
effect, and to this end the provisions of these regulations are hereby
declared severable.
