For purposes of this article, the following words shall have
the following meanings:
OPERATOR
Any individual, firm, company, corporation or association
that owns or operates an establishment where tattooing is performed
and any individual who performs or practices the art of tattooing
on the person of another.
TATTOOING LICENSE
Written approval from the Health Officer or his authorized
representative that said tattooing establishment has been inspected
and meets all of the terms of this article relating to physical facilities,
equipment and layout for operation of such business.
TATTOO or TATTOOING
Any method of placing designs, letters, scrolls, figures,
symbols or any other marks upon or under the skin with ink or any
other substance resulting in the coloration of the skin by the aid
of needles or any other instruments designed to touch or puncture
the skin.
Each person who operates a tattooing establishment shall comply
with the following requirements:
A. The room in which tattooing is done shall have an area of not less
than 100 square feet. The walls, floors and ceilings shall have an
impervious, smooth and washable surface. Walls and ceilings are to
be painted a light color. Walls, ceilings and floors shall be kept
clean and free from dust and debris. The floor shall be swept and
wet mopped daily. Floors, walls or ceilings shall not be swept or
cleaned while tattooing is in operation.
B. The establishment shall be maintained in a sanitary condition at
all times. Adequate light and ventilation must be provided.
C. Each tattooing establishment shall contain a sink for the exclusive
use of the tattoo artist to wash their hands and prepare the customers
for tattooing. The sink shall be provided with adequate hot and cold
running water. There shall also be available at the sink clean individual
towels and refuse containers.
D. Adequate toilet, urinal and hand-washing facilities shall be available
on the establishment premises for the use of customers and tattoo
artists. Toilets, urinals and hand-washing facilities shall be maintained
in a sanitary condition at all times.
E. An adequate number of work tables shall be provided for each tattoo
artist. The surface of all work tables shall be constructed of metal
or other material which is smooth, light colored, nonabsorbent, corrosive-resistant
and easily sanitized.
F. The shop shall be arranged so that work tables will be located at
least 10 feet from observers or waiting customers or such work tables
shall be separated from observers or waiting customers by a panel
or other barrier at least six feet high. The panel may be constructed
of glass, solid plastic or similar material.
G. Proper closed cabinets for the exclusive storage of instruments,
dyes, pigments, carbon stencils and other paraphernalia used in the
shop shall be provided for each tattoo artist.
H. The tattoo shop shall have proper facilities for the disposition
of waste materials.
I. Each tattoo artist shall be provided with individual hand brushes
and fingernail files.
J. No commercial activity other than tattooing shall be permitted in
the tattoo shop.
The following minimum standards shall be observed at all times.
A. The tattoo artist will use standards of aseptic technique in tattooing,
dressing and other operations. All instruments, needles, stencils,
dyes, pigments, dressing materials, razors, hand brushes, fingernail
files and other equipment used by the tattoo artist while tattooing
shall be sterile.
B. Each tattoo artist shall have an individual fingernail file and individual
hand brush which shall be cleaned and which shall be sterilized before
each use by boiling for 15 minutes or by immersion in an approved
germicidal solution for not less than 20 minutes. Germicidal solutions
used to sterilize shall be changed daily and the container thoroughly
cleansed.
C. Before working on each patron, each tattoo artist shall clean his
or her fingernails with his or her individual fingernail file and
shall thoroughly wash and scrub his or her hands with hot running
water, soap and his or her individual hand brush. Hands shall be dried
with individual single use towels. The operator shall wear a clean,
new pair of latex gloves, designed for use in surgery, for each customer.
D. That portion of the patron's skin to be tattooed shall be prepared
by washing with hot water and soap; by shaving with a sterile safety
razor and a single-service blade; and shaving shall be followed by
a thorough cleansing with hot water and soap applied with a clean
disposable cotton or gauze. A sterile hand brush shall be used, if
necessary, to produce a clean skin area.
E. No tattooing shall be done on any skin that has a rash, pimples,
boils, infections or manifests any evidence of unhealthy conditions.
F. Following the cleansing of the patron's skin, the tattoo artist
shall again wash and scrub his or her hands in the manner prescribed
above. He/she shall allow his or her hands to dry with the use of
sanitary or mechanical means. Before placing the design on the patron's
skin, the tattoo artist shall treat the skin area with 70% alcohol
or other approved germicidal solution which shall be applied with
sterile cotton or sterile gauze.
G. Only petroleum jelly, United States Pharmacopoeia or National Formulary,
shall be applied to the area to be tattooed, and it shall be in a
collapsible metal or plastic tube. The application may be spread by
the use of sterile gauze but not directly with the fingers. The stencil
for transferring the design to the skin shall be thoroughly cleansed
and rinsed in an approved germicidal solution for at least 20 minutes,
and shall be dried with sterile gauze or in the air before each use.
H. In preparing nontoxic dyes or pigments, only nontoxic or sterile
materials shall be used. Single-service or individual portions of
dyes or pigments in clean, sterilized individual containers or single-service
containers must be used for each patron. After tattooing, the remaining
unused dye or pigment in the single service or individual containers
must be discarded. The individual container must be resterilized or
discarded.
I. A set of individual single-service sterilized needles shall be used
for each new patron. Following sterilization, needles shall be shaken
dry and if not immediately used, stored in petroleum jelly, United
States Pharmacopoeia or National Formulary, and placed in a sterile,
dust-tight container. The open end of the needle tube of the tattooing
machine shall be cleaned and sterilized in an approved manner before
each use. No fewer than 24 sets of sterilized needles and tubes or
tips must be on hand for the entire day or night operation.
(1) Sterilization shall be done by one of the following methods:
(a)
By holding in an approved autoclave for 15 minutes at 15 pounds
of pressure;
(b)
By boiling for 15 minutes; or
(c)
By immersing in an approved germicidal solution for an approved
period of time.
(2) No rusty, dull or faulty needle shall be used for tattooing.
J. As the tattoo operation progresses, any excess dye or pigment applied
to the skin shall be removed with sterile gauze or sterile cotton.
K. The completed tattoo shall have the excess or pigment removed with
sterile gauze. It shall then be washed with a piece of sterile gauze
or sterile cotton saturated with approved germicidal solution. It
shall be allowed to dry. After drying, petroleum jelly, United States
Pharmacopoeia or National Formulary, shall be applied from a collapsible
metal or plastic tube and the entire area covered with a piece of
sterile gauze which may in turn be covered with a piece of tissue
and fastened to the site with an approved type of adhesive.
L. Storage cabinets shall be maintained in a sanitary condition and
all instruments, dyes, pigments, stencils and other paraphernalia
shall be kept in an orderly arrangement when not being used.
M. Work tables shall be kept clean and orderly.
N. No person except a duly licensed physician shall engage in the practice
of removing any tattoo.
O. Permanent records for each patron or customer shall be maintained
by the operator of the establishment. Before the tattooing operation
shall begin, the patron or customer shall be required to personally
enter on a record form provided for such establishments the date,
his or her name, address, age and his or her signature. Prior to tattooing,
each patron or customer shall be required to provide two forms of
identification, one of which shall contain both a picture and date
of birth of the customer. Such records shall be maintained in the
tattoo establishment and shall be available for examination by the
Health Officer. Records shall be retained by the operator for a period
of not less than two years. In the event of a change of ownership
or closing of the business, all such records shall be made available
to the Health Officer.
The Health Officer may conduct periodic inspections of any tattooing
establishment for the purpose of determining whether or not said establishment
and the persons performing tattooing therein are in compliance with
all applicable health provisions contained within this article and
other pertinent ordinances. It shall be unlawful for any person or
operator of a tattooing establishment to willfully prevent or restrain
the Health Officer from entering a certified establishment where tattooing
is being performed for the purpose of inspecting said premises, after
proper identification is presented to the operator.
It shall be unlawful for any operator or tattoo artist to engage
in any of the following:
A. No person, except a duly licensed physician, shall practice tattooing
in any place other than a tattooing shop for which a certificate of
sanitation has been issued.
B. It shall be unlawful to perform any tattooing on any individual who
is under the influence of drugs or alcohol or who appears to be under
the influence of drugs or alcohol.
C. It shall be unlawful to perform any tattooing on an individual under
the age of 18 years without the presence of a parent or legal guardian.
Said parent or legal guardian shall sign a permission form. These
forms shall be generated by the establishment and approved by the
Health Officer. Such written consent shall be kept on file for a period
of two years.
D. No person with any disease in a communicable form or suspected of
having such disease shall engage in tattooing. Such diseases may include,
but shall not be limited to, influenza, tuberculosis, HIV virus, scabies,
impetigo, syphilis, chicken pox, measles (rubella), German measles
(rubella), mumps, whooping cough, hepatitis, infection on hands or
arms, jaundice of the skin or sclera. The Health Officer may require
a certificate signed by a duly licensed physician stating that said
person is free from communicable diseases before permission to resume
operation is granted.
E. A medical history shall be taken of every customer. It shall be unlawful
to tattoo any person revealing a recent history of influenza, tuberculosis,
HIV virus, scabies, impetigo, syphilis, chicken pox, measles (rubella),
German measles (rubella), mumps, whooping cough, hepatitis, infection
on hands or arms, jaundice of the skin or sclera.
F. Animals and insects.
(1) Domestic or wild animals shall not be present in any part of the
establishment at any time. The term "domestic or wild animals" includes,
but is not limited to, dogs, cats, birds and reptiles.
(2) Insects and rodents shall not be present in any part of the establishment
at any time. The operator shall take effective measures against insects'
and rodents' entrance into, breeding on, or presence in the premises.
Evidence of insect or rodent infestation shall be cause for immediate
closure of the establishment by the Health Officer.