Aim: Hairdressers suffer from occupational
skin diseases particularly frequently because
they work under wet conditions. The training
centre Studio78 was developed by a workers
compensation board (BGW) for primary prevention
of occupational skin diseases in hairdressing.
The training concept combines vocational
training in hairdressing techniques
and skin protection measures. This article
presents the results of the evaluation.
Methods: Hairdressing apprentices and master
student hairdressers attended a one day
seminar. The target criterion was the use of
protective gloves for shampooing. Data were
collected at three time points: before the
seminar to check current knowledge, at the
end of the seminar to record intended behaviour
(in both cases by questionnaire) and
12 months later by a telephone interview to
record the implementation of skin protection
at the workplace.
Results: A total of 395 participants took part
(69 % first year, 18 % third year apprentices,
13 % master student hairdressers). More
than 90 % of the participants were satisfied
with the training concept. 87 % were aware
that skin protection was necessary during
shampooing. 79 % intended to use gloves
for shampooing. During the follow-up (46%
response rate), 70 % stated that they used
gloves during shampooing. The skin protection
recommendations were put into practice
least often by the apprentices in the first year
of training.
Conclusions: The seminars in Studio78 cover
hairdressing techniques, including the application
of skin protection measures, and have
been very well accepted by hairdressing apprentices
and master student hairdressers.
Many participants expressed the intention of
using gloves when applying shampoo. However,
more studies will be needed to establish
how effective this Trojan horse principle is in
encouraging the using of gloves in hairdressing
salons.
