General Information
Assembly Bill 300, the Safe Body Art Act, was signed into law by Governor Brown on October 9, 2011. This law provides a uniform set of standards for the body art industry to protect the health and safety of body art practitioners, their customers and the public. Body art is an invasive process that includes piercing, tattooing, application of permanent cosmetics, and branding. These practices present the potential for spreading blood-borne diseases, such as Hepatitis B.
The Food and Housing Division (FHD) of the Department of Environmental Health is the local agency charged with implementing the Safe Body Art Act in the County of San Diego. The law, which becomes effective on July 1, 2012, requires that body art be performed in a safe and sanitary manner to prevent the potential for spreading blood-borne diseases; it establishes specific requirements for body art facilities and practitioners, as well as limited requirements for mechanical piercing. Click here to view a copy of the new law.
Body art practitioners are those who perform tattoo, piercing, permanent cosmetics and branding on a person’s skin. They are required to received annual training in bloodborne pathogen standards annually to ensure they know how to prevent transmission of blood-borne diseases; they also must perform these procedures in approved Body Art facilities that have a valid health permit and are inspected by Environmental Health Specialists of the Department of Environmental Health.
The FHD has been working with a group of body art stakeholders to partner in the implementation of the new law, complete changes to the local ordinance and identify training needs to educate body art practitioners on the requirements of the law. Members of this workgroup also partnered in March, to present a workshop with information about the new law.
With the goal of providing the information needed by body art practitioners on the local implementation of the Safe Body Art Act, the FHD has scheduled outreach sessions for our body art industry stakeholders at no charge. Each session will provide information on the changes to the existing local Body Art Program, changes in registration requirements, fee changes and how to become registered and permit your facility.
For your convenience, two sessions will be presented at the Department of Environmental Health headquarters in Kearny Mesa and one session will be presented in the North County offices. Please join us at one of these three sessions:
Upcoming Outreach Sessions in San Diego County
- June 26, 2012, from 2-4 pm at 5500 Overland Ave., San Diego
- June 27, 2012 from 8-10 am at 5500 Overland Ave., San Diego
- July 3, 2012 from 1-3 pm at 151 E. Carmel St., San Marcos
To ensure that there is space available, please RSVP by calling the Food and Housing Specialist on Duty at (858) 505-6900 or send an email to DEH.FHDUTYEH@sdcounty.ca.gov.
Safe Body Art Act Resources
The Food & Housing Division (FHD) is working to implement the new law and to update the local ordinance. All practitioners will need to annually register with the Department of Environmental Health and complete Bloodborne Pathogen Training. AB 300 Safe Body Act Overview has additional information.
The California Conference of Environmental Health Directors is coordinating training workshops throughout the state. For additional information on the workshops, click here.
