TWENTY hairdressing salons in Chester took part in a national health and safety experiment.

Commissioned by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), it found that most hairdressers supported the idea of wearing non-latex gloves to reduce their chances of getting dermatitis and other uncomfortable skin conditions.

Hairdressers are 17 times more likely to suffer from work-related skin damage than any other group of workers.

More than 70% of hairdressers may suffer from skin damage at some point in their career.

Now HSE is encouraging Britain’s hairdressers to wave goodbye to work-related skin conditions by getting ‘gloved-up’.

Joe Roberts from Smile hairdressers on Watergate Row South in Chester, who took part in the trial, said: “Our hairdressers use gloves anyway but it was useful to try out the new non-latex gloves during the trial, which had slightly longer sleeves so there was even less chance of chemicals getting on your skin.

“I hope other hairdressers will also be persuaded to wear them given the high chance of skin damage if you don’t.”