0808 CA Stylist.indd - Stylist and Salon Newspapers

1 | AUGUST 008 | CALIFORNIA STYLIST & SALON
Risk Management
Esthetic Endeavors
Judith Culp
Any of us that have been in the industry for
a while have heard of the amazing things some
estheticians do—the wild, weird and just plain
crazy. Like what?
Recently I heard of an esthetician that did a
Brazilian wax who applied the wax the wrong
direction, didn’t stretch and used the same wax
applicator for the entire process. Another incident
was a technician who chose to do a peel on
a new client, in conjunction with a microdermabrasion.
And then there was the new product
on the market claiming that estheticians could
remove moles, skin tags, tattoos and cholesterol
deposits and any other superficial lesions.
So what do these things have in common?
Lack of risk management. All of them put the
technician and the client at risk for complications,
side effects or other consequences of
procedures. Some put the technician in the
position of perhaps breaking state regulations
or working beyond the scope of their insurance
liability. All of them are very risky.
What do I mean by saying they’re risky? It
means the technician or the client or both are
at risk of side effects, complications or consequences
of the procedure. It means there is a
heightened risk of insurance liability.
Most insurance firms and many states require
the technician to collect data from the client
pertinent to the procedure they’re performing.
They also expect us to inform the client of
any special aftercare they need to follow. Why?
Risk management.
It only takes one bad client experience to
ruin a good career. Bad news travels fast and for
most of us estheticians, the thought of marring
a client permanently is just inconceivable. We
want happy clients, we want successful careers
and we don’t want lawsuits.
So what can we do to manage our risks, to
reduce them? We must get training, have insurance
and get proper client documentation.
It is the responsibility of each salon owner
and each esthetician to know their state laws, to
know the limits of their insurance coverage and
to know the product and treatment guidelines
recommended by their suppliers. There is no
excuse for a technician to perform a service for
which they have not been properly trained.
If we want to perform a new service or our
salon owner expects us to perform a service, we
absolutely must be trained in that service before
performing it on the public. We have to know
more than the client does. We, as professionals,
are expected to know indications, contraindications
and protocols for performing a procedure—in
addition to the technical aspects.
There is a lot the client doesn’t know. They
won’t know if a treatment is inappropriate for
them. That is our responsibility. Anyone not
committed to having all the necessary knowledge
and informing each of their clients about
what is appropriate for them is a danger to our
industry.
For most procedures, we need to know
the theory to understand the indications and
the contraindications. We need to know the
procedure to follow when performing the treatment
and we need to know the very important
how-to’s associated with the treatment. If the
manufacturer says a treatment should use certain
products or should go a specific way and we
alter this, it can void our insurance coverage. If
the guidelines say we should not perform a procedure
on certain people due to health factors,
lifestyle factors or Fitzpatrick type and we do it
anyway, we void our insurance coverage.
It is also critical we know application
technique, stretch or proper settings as well
as methods to prevent cross-contamination.
Knowledge protects our clients and us.
Proper insurance coverage is a second important
aspect to consider. Are you fully covered
under your salon policy? Did you know that
even if there is a salon insurance policy, this
does not protect you from being one of the
people “also named” in a lawsuit? The client
can sue not only the salon but can also name
any practitioner there. If this sounds out of
line to you, check with your insurance carrier.
To truly protect yourself you need your own
professional coverage or your coverage needs to
name you specifically so that you have this type
of protection. The fee for appropriate insurance
coverage could be a small price to pay to protect
your personal property.
While some estheticians use a complete client
history, covering both medical and lifestyle
information to give them great clues as to how
a treatment might turn out, one at least has to
check for contraindications. Most manufacturers
have recommendations for the information
you need to gather with regard to their individual
service or treatment procedure.
Certain medications can rule out certain
treatments. Certain medical conditions may
make a treatment inappropriate. Fitzpatrick skin
rating measures how safely you can perform
peels on a client without risking hyper-pigmentation.
So to manage our risk factor and minimize
our chance of unhappy clients—or those who
have a less than satisfactory outcome— we must
get educated, get insured and get the pertinent
information. If we don’t do this, we are in a
risky business and according to Murphy’s Law,
the bad stuff will eventually happen.
Judith Culp, a CIDESCO Diplomat has been in the esthetics industry since 1980.
A CPCP permanent makeup technician for over 18 years she served a 4-year
term as a Director for the Society of Permanent Cosmetic Professionals, two
years as their president. She is president of Culp Enterprises Inc. and CEO of NW
Institute of Esthetics. Judy Culp is available for consulting. For more information
visit www.estheticsnw.com.