RIYADH: As a preventive measure to fight swine flu and other viral infection, the Riyadh municipality has requested the hairdressers in the city to wear face masks on the job.
“This is a good arrangement introduced in the interest of both the barber as well as the customer to prevent the spread of infection,” Soliman Al-Buthi, general manager of the General Department of Environmental Health at Riyadh municipality, said on Monday.
“We are educating the barbers on the new move, which not only asks them to wear face masks but also to use disposable razors and aprons,” Al-Buthi said.
There are an estimated 8,000 salons in Riyadh employing about 25,000 hairstylists.
“We have deployed 40 officers to visit the salons to create awareness among them during the two-week experimental period,” Al-Buthi said.
The official pointed out that when the rule becomes mandatory after Ramadan, the hairdressers who violate these regulations will face a penalty ranging from SR500 to SR2,000.
Al-Buthi said that the customers could call 940 to complain if the barbers violate these regulations.
Besides this move, public health workers who come under the direct supervision of the municipality, have to get employment certificates yearly or bi-annually from the Environmental Health Department.
“These certificates are issued free-of-charge by the municipality on production of his valid resident certificate (iqama), letter from the sponsor and a health certificate from a recognized medical clinic,” Al-Buthi explained.
He pointed out that the certificates are issued free within 45 minutes at his office.
The manager also said that his department also conducts random tests daily on those who come to obtain their employment certificates daily.
