[Added 1-24-1996 by Ord. No. 1747]
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.
A. 
Application procedure. It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the business of operating a tattoo establishment without first obtaining a tattooing license to engage in such business in accordance with the provisions hereof. Applications for a tattooing license shall be provided by the Township Health Officer. Upon receiving a completed application for a tattooing license, the Township Health Officer shall conduct an inspection of the premises and shall issue a tattooing license only upon the operator's full compliance with the provisions of this article. The tattooing license shall be valid for one year, and an inspection of the premises shall be required for each renewal term.
B. 
Application fee. A fee as set from time to time by resolution of the Board of Commissioners shall be required of each applicant for a tattooing license, as well as to renew said tattooing license.
[Amended 10-25-2000 by Ord. No. 1808]
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 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.
[Amended 11-26-1997 by Ord. No. 1774]
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.
[Added 7-22-1998 by Ord. No. 1788]
(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.