Our latest postal survey of sunbed operators has found too many who still aren’t aware of important health and safety guidelines.

We sent questionnaires in September to businesses advertising tanning services in the Yellow Pages or online. We wanted to find out how well informed they were, and where they got their information on the use of sunbeds. 66 operators returned questionnaires. Of the 260 operators we got in touch with, 57 were no longer in business or told us they no longer provided tanning services or had switched to spray tanning.

This is our second major survey in two years. The results of last year’s survey were disappointing – one-quarter of respondents hadn’t even heard of the Australia/New Zealand sunbed standard which provides guidance on the safe operation of sunbeds (AS/NZS 2635:2008). We wanted to know if there had been any improvement.

This time 18 percent of respondents said they hadn’t heard of the standard – an improvement on last year’s 25 percent. But there’s a catch. We sent businesses that responded to last year’s survey a pack consisting of information from the standard and the National Radiation Laboratory (NRL) guidelines for sunbed operators. Among respondents who had not taken part in the 2010 survey there was little change in the level of awareness – or lack of it. Only 74 percent of these operators said they’d heard of the standard.

The sunbed supplier was the most common source of information – 83 percent of operators had received advice from that source. Many sent us copies of the consent forms and skin assessments they ask their clients to complete. But some of the information was incorrect – people as young as 15 years were allowed a sunbed provided they had parental consent (the standard restricts sunbed use to people over 18 years).

One operator told us: “I would like to receive some up-dated info as I bought this place in May and my staff … has told me about rules but that’s all I know.”

We’ve called for sunbed operators to be licensed. Licensing would ensure all operators received accurate information and advice on protecting the health and safety of their clients.

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