Should our members continue to wear masks?
The Prime Minister yesterday announced that the plan going forward is to open up society as agreed on the 19th July. It is important to note that he also mentioned that decisions made going forward will shift from being a state instructive to the responsibility of the individual themselves. This clearly means the onus is now back on individuals to make sensible decisions. Given the ongoing increase in daily cases there is no doubt the pandemic is far from over and while many rules have become personal decisions as opposed to legal requirements there should be no doubt that a cautious approach is still recommended and should strongly be considered as each persons own social responsibility.
The advice from government to make our own minds up as to when we need to wear a face mask in different situations does not take away from our own accountability for doing so. And while not wearing a mask will no longer be unlawful there is no doubt it could still be deemed as irresponsible in certain situations.
For an industry that was one of the hardest hit and one of the last to reopen, given the nature of our close contact services, it is imperative to continue to mitigate risk as far as possible. Not only for your safety and the safety of your clients and staff but to help eliminate the factors that could lead to your business having to close and staff to self-isolate too.
As a rule, even before the pandemic, many professional therapists already wore face masks, especially where performing advanced aesthetic treatments or those treatments in close proximity to the client’s face. If the government guidance and scientific evidence confirms it is still sensible and effective to wear masks when in close proximity to others (as stated on the news yesterday) then, while it may no longer be law, we would certainly encourage our members to strongly consider the evidence, as part of their own risk assessments, and continue to wear them for the time being - especially when working in the breathing zone.