About us - Our standards

• Our Standards
• Premises
• Staff Hygiene
• Infection Control
  • Autoclave
  • Ultrasonic cleaning
  • Environment cleaning
• Handwashing and Aseptic Technique
  • Skin disinfection
  • Correct handwashing technique
• Needles
• Instruments
• Medical supplies
• Jewellery

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Our Hygiene Standards

As you will read from the rest of the site, high standards of hygiene are important in order to keep you safe from disease and infections. At The Piercing bodz we go to extraordinary lengths to ensure that you are safe at all times. This section outlines the procedures that we use to ensure that cross contamination (the passage of germs from one person to another) is avoided. Every aspect of the service we provide has been assessed for risks and we are constantly evolving our standards as more research becomes available.

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Premises

Our premises are designed to reduce the amount of dirt and germs that can be brought in from outside. The reception/waiting area, the treatment area and the autoclave area are 3 seperate rooms.

The reception/waiting area consists of wipeable counters and leather sofas with artificial, wipeable plants

The piercing room is accessible only from the waiting/reception room.

Inside the piercing room there are seperate clean and dirty zones :

The handwashing (clean) sink is made of glass to make it easier to keep clean and has an elbow operated mixer tap.

The ultrasonic cleaner and "dirty sink" are in the opposite corner, as far from the treatment area and the handwashing sink as possible.

All walls are painted with a waterproof eggshell paint that can be wiped and disinfected as neccessary.

The floor is painted with floor paint to give an impervious surface

The treatment bed is a sturdy "Bristol Maid" treatment couch with a treated, waterproof frame and a vinyl seat.

All work surfaces are formica.

The air in the piercing room is ionised and filtered using a HEPA filter to reduce any pathogens in the air.

Wall mounted, elbow operated dispensers are used for soap and instant hand sanitizer and we have wall dispensers for disposable paper towels.

The treatment bed is covered with a disposable paper towel roll.

The piercing credenza (trolley) is made of wipable plastic with an incineratable medical sharps bin attatched.

The medical waste bin is foot pedal operated.

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Staff personal hygiene

All our staff are vaccinated against hepatitis B.

Full training is given in aseptic technique and appropriate handwashing/cleansing techniques.

All staff wear clean clothes and have spare garments at hand should they be needed.

All staff are trained in the use of latex gloves and are fully conversant with current attitudes regarding removal and disposal.

All staff are fully trained to clean body fluid spillages.

All staff are trained in appropriate first aid (stopping bleeding, treating fainting etc.)

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Infection control

 

Autoclave

The autoclave that we use is a vacuum autoclave with a seperate tank for clean and dirty water. It has a drying cycle and an automatic printer that shows the temperature and pressure every minute throughout the sterilising and drying cycle.

Our autoclave is serviced and callibrated by an approved engineer to HTM 2010 standard.

We sterilise all our instruments using the " Prion cycle".

The autoclave is emptied of any unused water after every cycle and refilled with sterile water before the next cycle to reduce the levels of cytotoxins.

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Ultrasonic cleaning

We use an ultrasonic cleaner to clean all the jewellery we use in order to remove polish, oil etc.. The ultrasonic cleaner is also used to clean used instruments before resterilising.

The ultrasonic cleaner has a lid so that any pathogens on the jewellery or instruments is not released into the air.

It operates at a constant temperature of 55 degrees centigrade, which is the optimum temperature for the detergent that we use.

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Environment cleaning and disinfection

We have very strict cleaning procedures. The walls, floor, surfaces, autoclave, ultrasonic machine, sinks, treatment bed and credenza are cleaned every morning. The treatment bed, credenza, sinks and walls around the sinks are cleaned between each client.

The disinfectant we use is specifically formulated to clean medical and dental surfaces. It is active against :

• Bacteria
• Viruses
• Fungii
• Spores (bacterial and fungal)
• Pseudomonas
• Tuberculosis

It has been tested :

• under EN1276
• under EN1040
• by The Hospital Infection Research Laboratory
• by the Public Health Laboratory Service (UK)
• under AFNOR (EC)

And, most importantly, it's biodegradable and does no harm to the environment.

We NEVER use bleach to clean, as bleach is seriously harmful to the environment and can damage surfaces, making them porous and prone to harbouring bacteria.

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Handwashing and aseptic technique

We follow a very strict handwashing regime that was devised in the 1970's by the Royal College of Nursing. All medical professionals still use this method today to ensure that every part of the hands is clean and free of bacteria.

To disinfect when the hands aren't dirty or we use instant hand sanitiser from a wall dispenser in either the waiting room or the studio. We use a full aseptic (non touch) technique and proper use of latex gloves ensures your safety at all times.

 

Skin disinfection

Disinfection of the skin prior to piercing can be acheved in many ways. It is important to remove dirt, make-up and fake tan. This is best done using isopropyl alcohol.

The skin is usually cleaned of gross dirt using isopropyl alcohol swabs and then marked for piercing using an antiseptic called 'gentian violet', which is a mixture of iodine and ethyl alcohol. This has the added bonus of cleaning the piercing during the procedure and then keeping it clean during the first few days.

We may occassionally use special surgical skin marking pens, usually to mark for surface piercings, or if you tell us you are allergic to iodine. These pens are sterilised and packed by the manufacturer and are disposed of after one use. We NEVER use ordinary pens or felt tips and NEVER use a skin pen more than once, as this would increase the risk of cross-contamination (passing germs from one person to another).

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Correct handwashing technique

There has been a lot of press recently regarding the spread of so-called 'superbugs' such as mssa, mrsa, chlostridium dificile and vrsa. By far the easiest way to combat the spread of these 'superbugs' is effective handwashing.

Handwashing can prevent many diseases including diseases spread through fecal-oral transmission, such as:

• Shigellosis
• Hepatitis A
• E. coli
• Enterovirus

Because these diseases are spread through the ingestion of even minute particles of fecal material, it is very important to wash hands right after going to the toilet.

Handwashing also prevents diseases spread through indirect transmission, such as:

• Influenza
• Streptococal disease
• Respiratory syncitial virus (RSV)
• The common cold

Because these diseases maybe spread indirectly by hands freshly soiled by respiratory discharges of infected people, illness may be avioded by washing hands after coughing or sneezing. Diseases may also be spread when hands are contaminated with urine, saliva, or other moist body substances. Infections which may be transmitted by one or more of these body substances include:

• Cytomegalovirus (CMV)
• Staphylococcal organisms
• Typhoid

These germs may be transmitted from person to person, or indirectly by contamination of food, or inanimate objects.

In 1978 an independent study was made into the handwashing technique employed by nurses.

A number of nurses were blindfolded and asked to wash their hands with a special soap that contained a blue dye. The dye remained on the parts of the hands that were effectively cleaned.
The results were correlated and the following pattern emerged :

This study showed the need for a standard, precise and proper method of hand washing that should be used for all those who come into contact with patients. A good technique which ensures that all areas of the hands are covered is essential for an effective handwash and is actually far more important than the soap used.

We use the following technique, devised by The Royal College of Nursing, which ensures that hands are properly cleaned:

Wet hands thoroughly and apply soap.

Cleaning the hands properly depends on the lather reaching all parts of the hands and nails. This lather will hold the germs away from the skin in a suspension. It is important that the hands are kept away from running water so that the lather is not washed away too soon. Once cleaning has been completed the hands should be rinsed from the fingers down to avoid the contamination of clean hands by dirty water.

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Needles, Instruments, Medical supplies and jewellery

 

Needles

The needles that we use are imported from Germany. We have found that the highest quality needles produce the least sensation during piercing. They are sterilised and sealed at the manufacturers. Once used the cannula (the plastic sleeve) is cut to ensure that it cannot be re-used. These needles are seriously expensive, but we figure you get what you pay for.

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Instruments

The instruments that we use are made from high grade surgical steel. The clamps have a small access area to ensure that 'tenting' of the tissue to be pierced is kept at a minimum to reduce the amount of surrounding tissue damage.

All the instruments that are needed for each client are packed into a sterilisation pouch and autoclaved using the "prion" cycle. After each use the instruments are cleaned ultrasonically to remove oils, tissue etc., then repackaged and re-autoclaved prior to use on anyone else.

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Medical supplies

All the medical supplies we use are sourced from reputable UK suppliers. Gauze, dressings, alcohol wipes etc. are packaged at the manufacturers and are kept sealed until needed. Paper products such as couch rolls and paper towels are stored in clean, dry conditions, in waterproof wrapping until needed.

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Jewellery

All the jewellery that we use is sourced from reputable UK companies. We ultrasonically clean the jewellery to remove traces of polish, dirt etc., then individually pack into sterilisation pouches. All our jewellery is sterilised using the 'Prion' cycle to ensure sterility.

Any surgical steel jewellery that we use in initial piercing conforms to directive 94/27/EC and the 'dangerous substances and preparations (nickel) (safety) regulations 2000'. We use 316LVM (low nickel and low carbon) surgical steel only when Biomedical plastic jewellery is not appropriate. The jewellery for microdermal anchors is high grade, highly polished titanium alloy.

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