1. Regulation and Compliance in Northern Ireland Elise Logan, Lead EHO
Sunbeds
Regulation and Compliance in Northern Ireland
Elise Logan, Lead EHO

2. The Sunbeds Act (NI) 2011 Came into effect in May 2012
Prohibits use of sunbeds in a commercial premises by under 18s
Prohibits sale or hire of sunbeds to anyone under 18
Prohibits unsupervised use of sunbeds in commercial premises
Prohibits persons under 18 being present in a restricted zone

3. The Sunbeds Act (NI) 2011
Duty to provide health warning information to sunbed users, sunbed buyers and persons hiring a sunbed
Duty to display a public information notice regarding health risks
Prohibits the provision or display of information making health claims
Duty to ensure appropriate protective eyewear is provided to user, buyer or hirer

4. Health Information for users, hirers and buyers
It must:
be at least A4 in size
be printed in black characters which can be easily read, on a yellow background
Available at
in English and Polish

5. Public Information Notice
The Sunbeds (Information)
Regulations (NI) 2012
At least A3 in size
Black characters at least 20mm in size, on a yellow background
Available at in
English and Polish

6. Enforcement and Penalties

7. Accepted Types of ID
Passport
Driving Licence

8. Issues Found During Inspections
Lack of staff training
Lack of risk assessments & policies
Lack of sunbed maintenance & service records
Competence of those servicing/maintaining beds unknown
Wide range of mechanisms for recording client information - none/records cards/computer systems used to track sessions

9. Issues Found During Inspections
Cleaning
Varying cleaning regimes
Lack of information & knowledge of how to clean the beds and what products to use
Poor Management
Lack of confidence in turning away people from session
Lack of confidence in assessing skin type
Few premises have copy of manufacturer’s instructions
Unable to access sunbed rooms from the outside in an emergency
Lack of understanding of the legislation, including not making health benefit claims

10. Home Hire Inspections 2017/18
Difficult to inspect sunbeds as often out on hire, stored elsewhere and in one case, outside jurisdiction
Few beds had CE marks
No manufacturer’s instructions were available
All beds had timers – times allowed ranged from 10 up to 30 minutes
Maintenance & inspection of beds ad hoc & not documented
Some evidence seen of a defective starter & tubes, loose plugs etc. No beds were PAT tested

11. Test Purchase Exercises
Commitment by all 11 Councils to test purchase all premises every two years
In 2018/19:
- 159 test purchase visits to sunbed premises
- 15 sales made to the Under 18 during these visits
- 15 fixed penalty notices issued

12. Number of Sunbed Premises in NI

13. Location of Sunbed Premises
Research study to show relationship between the location and the Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure (NIMDM) 2017, looking at the Income and Health domains.
This research shows that over two-thirds (67%) of all sunbed establishments are located in the first two deprivation quintiles i.e. 40% most deprived super output areas.

14. Sunbed establishment locations plotted on a map of NI Multiple Deprivation Measure

15. Public Attitudes to Using Sunbeds
Surveys show that members of the public are aware of the health risks associated with sunbed use, but many still use them.
The 2016/17 Health Survey in NI revealed:
around half of respondents agreed that having a suntan ‘makes me feel healthier’ or ‘makes me look more attractive’
reports of members of the public being addicted to using sunbeds for appearance and the ‘feel good factor’

16. Public Attitudes to Using Sunbeds
In 2013 the Young Persons Behaviour and Attitudes Survey found that:
10% of year olds have used a sunbed and of these, over a third have used them in sunbed premises (33.9%) and 39.8% have used them in a home environment;
Almost half of respondents (44%) did not use protective goggles when using a sunbed.

17. How Councils deal with lack of compliance
Carry out advisory visits to new sunbed businesses
Provide Department of Health guidance booklet (also available in Polish)
Provide information seminars
Provide risk assessment template & guidance (also available in Polish)
Where non-compliance is found, fixed penalty notices are issued

18. Challenges
Number of sunbed premises increasing, no increase in Environmental Health staff resource
Often difficult to find children for test purchase exercises
Regulating social media - checks needed to ensure health benefit claims not being made
Where do we go from here?...

19. QUESTIONS?