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Healthy Salons Week of Action: May 2011!
In conjunction with our National Healthy Nail and Beauty Salon Alliance partners, the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative co-led a Healthy Salons Week of Action in May 2011 in Washington, DC! The action-packed week included:
A Congressional Briefing focused on salon worker health and safety elements of the Federal Safe Cosmetics Act . Advocates, research experts, and hair and nail salon workers/owners spoke of the need for increased regulation of the cosmetics industry, shared new research documenting health risks associated with exposure to toxins in cosmetic products, and spoke of the need to pass the Federal Safe Cosmetics Act.
A White House Interagency Meeting hosted by the EPA and the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders that included officials from the EPA, FDA, OSHA, Department of Labor, NIOSH, NIEHS, and other federal agencies with jurisdiction over salon worker occupational health and safety. The Alliance also presented the agencies with key Policy and Regulatory Recommendations.
Congressional Hill Visits conducted by advocates and salon workers to key congressional offices to educate on occupational exposures and other concerns facing salon workers, and to advocate for the passage of the Federal Safe Cosmetic Act.
The Collaborative was excited to bring California salon workers to Washington, DC for the first time as they shared testimonies on their workplace experiences, exposures and health impacts. The Healthy Salons Advocacy Week provided an important national platform for the Collaborative and the Alliance to reach the US Congress and key federal regulatory agencies on salon worker health and safety issues. In addition, on behalf of the Alliance, NAPAWF released Removing the Topcoat: Understanding Federal Oversight of Nail Salons, which provides an overview of the various roles that federal agencies have in overseeing health and safety of salon workers.
The Week of Action activities earned a significant amount of media attention and coverage, including the Wall Street Journal and the The Washington Times.
For More Information:
For more information or to get involved with the National Healthy Nail and Beauty Salon Alliance, please contact Christine Harley, Policy and Programs Director at the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum at 202-470-3170 or charley@napawf.org.
