Tattooing and body piercing: infection prevention and control
Reducing infection in tattooing and body piercing and promoting safety and consistency across practices.
Applies to England
Tattooing and body piercings are common. If they’re not created properly, the person getting a tattoo or piercing faces health risks. These risks include infections, in particular the risk of transmission of bloodborne viruses like hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV. It is important to promote safety and consistency across the range of tattooing and body piercing practices.
The ‘Tattooing and body piercing guidance toolkit’ provides local authorities and businesses with information on good standards of practice, and promotes safety and consistency across the industry nationally.
There are currently no legal requirements for professional competence and no nationally recognised or accredited training courses for tattooing and body piercing. This guidance aims to promote evidence-based infection prevention and control practice to improve and monitor standards in tattooing and body piercing.
The ‘Tattooing and body piercing guidance toolkit’ was developed by experienced individuals working with the tattoo and body piercing industry as expert advisors, practitioners or regulators, and has been endorsed by Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, Public Health England (now the UK Health Security Agency), the Health and Safety Laboratory, and the Tattoo and Piercing Industry Union.