For a permanent makeup artist, infection prevention has to be the focal point of an appointment; one does not simply work with needles, pigments and broken skin and expect otherwise. And while you may have a PMU Infection Control AU certificate, it is more than something to put in a drawer. The training you need in this country is dictated by your council, the state or territory, where you are based (be it a salon, home studio or on the road) and the nature of your treatments.
I am Clara Whitmore and I have no time for the sort of language found in a glossy brochure, I would rather give you practical counsel. Put simply, the majority of PMU artists ought to have their relevant skin penetration infection control training under their belt, be au fait with local and state regulations and have cleaning, disinfection, sterilisation and waste protocols on paper. A nationally accredited unit will do a business good, but do not think one certificate is a blanket replacement for every operating obligation or local approval. These factors also influence your permanent makeup business setup costs.
PMU Work Demands the Right Training
A course should be about cosmetic tattooing, not just workplace hygiene in general. There are risks with blood and body fluids, with sharps and reusable gear and client files; the material needs to be of some use when you are at the treatment bed.
Look at the unit code and the organisation before you sign up. An online module might be the easy option but that is not compliance. Sometimes the mozzie-sized detail is the elephant in the room.
Make a list of your treatments
Put pen to paper and itemise everything from eyebrow and eyeliner tattooing to lip blush, colour correction and any touch-ups. Determine what equipment is single-use, what has to be sterilised and which services mean you are penetrating the skin. With this list in hand you can make a proper comparison of courses. One geared towards beauty in general will not get into the nitty gritty of sharps disposal or blood contamination. Get an outline of the unit from the provider first.
Is a formal unit or certificate in order?
You may find a certificate in cosmetic tattooing attests to a short course run by a provider. Fine for a refresher or for the owner’s files, yet it is not necessarily equivalent to a nationally accredited unit. Find out if it is so recognised, if there is an assessment component and if the certificate actually states the unit. “Certificate” is a broad term that can denote anything from a thorough evaluation to a quiz done before lunch. Make sure your regulator will count it for the services you plan to offer.
Two units to consider
A PMU artist will come across SHBBINF002 Maintain Infection Control Standards and HLTINF005 Infection Prevention for Skin Penetration. They are not one and the same though. Which is appropriate comes down to the scope of the course and the rules in your area. If the provider cannot make plain how the unit pertains to cosmetic tattooing, consider it a red flag and not a small matter of paperwork.
| Training Option | Best Fit | What To Check |
|---|---|---|
| SHBBINF002 | For the beauty professional wanting some structure in his or her training pathway | Does the delivery encompass the documentation and equipment of PMU? |
| HLTINF005 | Where skin penetration is part of the job | Cosmetic tattooing, blood exposure, sterilisation and the like |
| Short course in infection control | A refresher or way to develop professionally for an established artist | Local authority acceptance, expiry and the like |
On HLTINF005
Given its focus on the kind of work where you are putting a needle to skin, HLTINF005 Infection Prevention for Skin Penetration is a sensible choice to deal with the infection risks of contaminated equipment. But it will not answer all your compliance queries. Depending on the location and how you run your business you could still be looking at council registration, waste arrangements or having a qualified supervisor.
On SHBBINF002
This may be more to the taste of an artist in a salon program or with a wider beauty qualification to put in place PPE, hand hygiene and the rest. But be sure of its practical side. Should the assessment make no mention of sterilisation, blood or sharps, you may want to question if further training is called for. One does not put alphabet soup after one’s name for the sake of it. The object is to have real infection risks in hand.
What a Good Training Will Cover
In a permanent makeup course on infection control, you should be made aware of the proper procedure for an appointment from start to finish. A worthwhile course will make the link between theory and the treatment room, telling you how to go about preparing your surfaces and equipment and what to do when things do not go as planned.
There is also value in being told the reason behind any given control. An artist with a grasp of the chain of infection will spot a vulnerability before it becomes an issue for a client.
Infection Prevention at its Core
You can expect sound training in skin penetration to address such matters as PPE and its selection, sterilisation, disinfection and surface cleaning, the disposal of sharps and contaminated waste, and hand hygiene. Environmental cleaning and linen handling are part of it, as are protocols for a spill or accidental exposure.
Hand hygiene in particular should be stressed. Put on gloves and a workstation is not for that reason alone safe; they are no substitute for clean hands. It is incumbent on the artist to wash at the right time and not be putting contaminated gloves on a door handle or tap.
Workflows and Equipment
A good trainer will draw the line between the three: cleaning to get rid of organic matter and visible soil, disinfection to lower microorganisms on a surface and then sterilisation, a more thorough process for equipment where there can be no viable microorganisms left.
For anything reusable there has to be a defined workflow, from the point of collection through to use. If you cannot put an item through the process safely, single-use is the wiser option. In the end it comes down to whether you can account for what has happened to an item since the last client.
The Value of Records
Whether it is steriliser logs, maintenance and staff records, batch data or an incident report, these are the kind of documents that demonstrate your procedures are in force and not merely for show. They allow patterns to be seen.
An audit is a good way to measure yourself. Take a review period where 12 scheduled cleaning checks were done and signed off; you have a 100 per cent completion rate on the basis of those 12 checks. It is not proof that every surface was up to scratch but it is a tangible way to see if the process is adhered to.
Abiding by State and Council Regulations
PMU artists in Australia will find the infection control rules are not uniform. Public health authorities, state and territory health departments and local councils may have their own way of regulating operator conduct, premises for skin penetration, waste and so on.
It is best to put it to the authority in whose jurisdiction your premises falls. The Queensland Government guidance for personal appearance services has some instructive guidance for personal appearance services but do not make of it a national rulebook.
Queensland
Those working in Queensland would do well to look into the standards for premises, council oversight and hygiene as they pertain to skin penetration and personal appearance. Make contact with the local council prior to fitting out a home studio or entering a lease.
Do not think a certificate is a licence to trade. There is more to it than a course, which is only part of the setup. Inspections, plumbing and hand-washing facilities are just as important.
Victoria
Compliance here can mean registration with local government and meeting public health requirements for body art or prescribed accommodation. PMU artists are well advised to put it to their council as to how cosmetic tattooing is categorised and what documentation is called for.
A home studio in Daylesford is not the same as a room you rent in central Melbourne; the address makes a difference to the practicalities. Do not take your cue from an adjacent council.
Elsewhere in Australia
From New South Wales and Victoria to the Northern Territory, Tasmania, Western and South Australia and the ACT, each has a regulatory path of its own. Your local council may add registration or inspection demands.
Before you put appointments on the calendar, check the rules for your operating arrangement and location. A mobile operation or shared salon will throw up different questions over record keeping, transport and waste than a home business.
Fees and Delivery
When looking at providers, compare what is included and not just the headline fee. For the experienced artist with a good connection an online format is fine, but if demonstrations and some feedback from a tutor are required, blended or on-campus learning is preferable.
One cannot in good conscience put forward a national course fee as the definitive figure given the way provider prices fluctuate; it is best to look at what is on offer at the time. Make sure you have the full picture of costs prior to enrolling: total price, charges for assessment and resubmission, practical elements and any administration or certificate fees that are billed separately.
| Delivery Format | Advantages | Potential Catch |
|---|---|---|
| Online training | The scheduling is flexible and spares you the daily commute | You will be without physical demonstration and may find it hard to put your practical ability to the proof |
| Blended learning | Theory is done online but with some practical support | You have to put some thought into your diary to make the travel to the practical session |
| On-campus training | Trainers, demonstrations and equipment are right there | Then there is the matter of parking or accommodation and more time spent travelling |
Plan The Practical Logistics
Before booking an on-campus course, put in a call to get the campus address, see what public transport is like, where one can park and how lunch is provided, and plan your return. With online training, find out if the lessons are computer only or will run on a phone and when the assessment is due. A Friday evening finish in the rain can make for a long drive home with nothing but brake lights and regret.
Do not be guided by the advertised study duration alone, factor in the time for travel and breaks. Travellers from regional Australia should put fuel, meals and a room down as part of the budget for the course. They are real expenses of training no matter how unassuming the enrolment fee is.
Check Provider Quality
You want to see a complaints or appeals process, transparent assessment criteria, up to date unit information and easy ways to contact the trainer. Put some questions to them: does the certificate put the unit name on record? Is refresher training a recommendation? Does the unit form part of a recognised qualification?
And read the terms before parting with your money. There are providers who will entice with a low opening price and then come back for extra charges for reassessment or a replacement certificate. If the fine print is as rough as guts, it will not improve once you have paid.
Build Compliance Into Your Business
From day one infection control has to be in your permanent makeup business set up. Have a budget for the training, PPE, hand-washing facilities, sterilisation and cleaning products, single-use supplies, sharps containers, clinical waste and your record systems as well as where appropriate the equipment for them.
Your reputation is served by this budget too. The client will not be privy to your cleaning schedule but he or she will tell if the studio is in order, if you are careful with your equipment and if aftercare is put across in plain terms.
Use A Daily Checklist
A written routine for opening, between clients and closing will see to it that steps are not overlooked when an appointment runs over or a client turns up with a pram and three things to ask.
- Have clean hands and the right PPE, treatment area in readiness.
- Employ sterile or single use items as the procedure dictates.
- Make certain clean and soiled items do not come in contact.
- Put sharps in an approved container without delay.
- Disinfect and clean the surfaces and put the checks on record.
- Any exposure events, faults or incidents and the corrective action taken should be documented.
Expect The Unexpected
It is not the emergency of drama that gets you, it is the minor breach. A pen handled with a dirty glove, a pigment bottle on a surface not yet prepped, a reusable item left to soak with no paper trail or a cleaning record made up from memory at week’s end.
Put your procedures in writing so another trained individual could work to them. Work on the assumption you are to hand the studio to a new hire tomorrow if you are on your own. A system that is all in your head is no system at all.
Answer Common Training Questions
Course titles and state regulations and the like are easily conflated so these are frequently asked. The prudent answer is to keep national training and local approval apart.
What Infection Control Courses Are Available In Australia?
There are SHBBINF002 Maintain Infection Control Standards, HLTINF005 Infection Prevention for Skin Penetration and some cosmetic tattoo courses of shorter duration. But recognition and delivery will differ with the provider. Verify the course is suited to your PMU services and put it to your local authority.
Is There A Free Infection Control Course?
You can find free material in the workplace or public domain to instruct on prevention but do not assume it is a nationally accredited qualification or a certificate in good standing for cosmetic tattooing. Should a free course say it fulfils a regulatory need, enquire as to who put it out and how they assess and if the council is happy with it.
What Are Queensland Infection Guidelines?
For artists in Queensland the current rules on skin penetration and personal appearance services must be followed, be it for hygiene, premises, waste or equipment. It is a case of checking the Government of Queensland website and having a word with the council for your premises before you open.
What Qualifications Do Beauty Therapists Need?
Not every service in every part of Australia is covered by one qualification. You have to take into account the rules of the state or territory, the insurer, employer and council. PMU artists would do well to align their training with the skin penetration work and see if other requirements for the business or beauty side of things are in play.
Does A Certificate Guarantee Compliance?
It does not. It is evidence of your training, but you also need the approvals, records, safe premises and proper waste management to be in compliance. Training is the map, but you still have to put in the care to drive the track.
Make Safety Part Of The Service
A good infection control course in cosmetic tattooing will do more than provide a piece of paper. You will be able to spot cross-contamination and under pressure make the right call and put your standards to a client without hesitation.
Verify the rules that pertain to your address, have a budget for the whole operation and audit what goes on between appointments. For the permanent makeup artist in Australia, that is how you go about ensuring a sound business and better safety for the client.