What are salons doing to combat swine flu?

Tony Rizzo, founder of the Sanrizz salon chain, is taking the pandemic particularly seriously - even going as far as to take on distribution of a hand sanitiser called No Germs, which he intends to distribute through the Alternative Hair organisation.

Within all Sanrizz salons, a strict regime has been established, whereby all clients will be issued with some sanitiser as they enter the salon, and all staff are required to wash with it every four hours.

"We are taking the situation very seriously," said Tony. "I have only had two staff off sick because of the virus, but that is two too many."

Charles Dodds, Cutting Room Creative, Leeds is well aware of the reality of swine flu.

"Like a lot of media stories, when the swine flu story first broke I thought it was probably being blown out of proportion. Now, my partner Karen and three other members of our team are off work with swine flu. To try and minimize the problem in the salon we are reiterating advice on basic hygiene and have introduced anti-bacterial hand sanitising gel for staff and clients to use."

"Swine flu is definitely a concern," said Robert Masciave, owner of Metropolis Hairdressing, Kingston upon Thames. "In our line of business we are always in close proximity to people, therefore I stress the importance of always washing hands before and after sessions with clients. If Tamiflu is made available to the private sector, I'll pay for the vaccination to protect my team. It's a small price to pay for their safety."

Comments co-owner of Ramsay and Johnson, Sunderland, Paul Johnson: "As a business you've got to take sensible precautions and it has affected the way we run the salon such as introducing anti bacterial wash gel for all staff after contact with clients.

"It has affected our business as we have seen a number of clients cancel their appointments at the last minute."

Simon Cox, director of Clipso St Albans, has involved the team in devising tactics to tackle the potential spread of swine flu. "We had a team meeting about swine-flu and I stressed that if any of the team had symptoms, to stay off work and follow the advice of the NHS," said Simon. "I have provided anti-bacterial hand gel, and explained the importance of keeping clean. There is lots of scare-mongering in the media, but I do have a care of duty to my team and clients to take necessary precautions."

Ellen Conlin - Main, managing director of Ellen Conlin Hair and Beauty in Glasgow said: "Although the outbreak of swine flu has not affected our business it is important that we remain vigilant about personal hygiene. Precautionary measures are vital to prevent the spread of the disease especially as we are working in close contact with members of the public.

"We ensure that our employees regularly wash their hands and we have extra hand sanitizers throughout the salon. Surfaces and desks are also regularly cleaned to help reduce the risk of illness. We work hard to maintain and clean and tidy environment and every evening the salon is sterilised."

Wil Fleeson, director of the Buchanan Street branch of Rainbow Room international, Glasgow has a slightly more laid-back view of the swine flu panic, although is still taking precautions. "I think the whole thing has been massively over-hyped from the beginning," said Wil. "Not the number of cases, but the actual seriousness of the virus. It is inevitable that many people will contract it but we are simply keeping up our high standards of cleanliness throughout the salon."