[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Wrightstown
by Ord. No. 1991-1 (Chapter XVIII of the Revised General Ordinances). Amendments
noted where applicable.]
The purpose of this chapter shall be to provide rules, regulations and
standards for the establishment and operation of tattoo parlors in the Borough
of Wrightstown.
A.
ADEQUATE, APPROVED, EQUIVALENT, SUFFICIENT, THOROUGHLY or PROPER
BOARD
CERTIFICATION OF SANITATION
LICENSE
TATTOO ARTIST
TATTOO or TATTOOING
TATTOO SHOP or TATTOOING SHOP
The words hereafter defined shall have the meanings herein
indicated for the purpose of this chapter, as follows:
Reasonable and sufficiently health conserving in the considered opinion
of the Board.
The Board of Health of the Borough of Wrightstown or its duly authorized
agent, officer or inspector.
A certificate issued to the owner or proprietor of a tattooing shop
under the provisions of this chapter.
A license issued to a tattoo artist under the provisions of this
chapter.
One who engages in tattooing.
To mark or color the skin by pricking in by subcutaneous introduction
nontoxic dyes or pigments so as to form indelible marks or figures or by production
of scars.
Any premises where a tattoo artist does tattooing for a fee or other
considerations.
B.
Terminology.
(1)
"And" and "or" may be used interchangeably and either
of the two may be applicable, whichever is more conducive to the effectuating
of this chapter.
(2)
Personal pronouns shall mean either the singular or plural,
whichever is applicable and conducive to the effectuating of this chapter.
(3)
The masculine, feminine or neuter gender shall be implied,
whichever is appropriate and conducive to the effectuating of this chapter.
No person, except a duly licensed physician, shall engage in the practice
of tattooing, except under a valid and effective license therefor issued to
him by the Board.
A.
Any person desiring to engage in tattooing shall submit
an application to the Board in the form prescribed by the Board. Any applicant
who has not previously been issued a license by the Board shall be required
to take and pass an examination in the manner prescribed by the Board before
a license shall be issued. The applicant shall be required to show evidence
by examination of the knowledge of the provisions of this chapter, including
an adequate knowledge of bacteriology and aseptic technique to assure that
infection and contagious disease shall not be spread by tattooing practices.
No license shall be issued or renewed or reissued unless the applicant has
taken a physical examination reported on a form prescribed by the Board which
shall include an x-ray of the chest and a blood test for syphilis, gonorrhea
and AIDS. Records of all such examinations shall be kept on file by the holder
of the certificate of sanitation for the tattoo shop in which the person to
whom the license is issued works.
B.
A fee of $50 shall be required of each applicant for
an initial license. A fee of $50 shall be required by each applicant for the
renewal of a license.
C.
In the event of failure to qualify for a license, the
fee shall not be refunded to the applicant.
A.
No person, partnership, firm or corporation shall operate
a tattooing shop unless such person, partnership or corporation has registered
such shop with the Board and has received a certificate of sanitation from
the Board. No certificate of sanitation shall be issued or renewed unless
the shop has been inspected by the Board and found to be in compliance with
the requirements of this chapter.
B.
A fee of $50 shall be required of each applicant for
a certificate of sanitation. A fee of $50 shall be required of each applicant
for the renewal of a certificate of sanitation.
C.
In the event of failure to qualify for a certificate
of sanitation the fee shall not be refunded to the applicant.
All licenses and certificates of sanitation shall expire on the 31st
day of January of each year. Applications for the renewal of a license or
certificate of sanitation must be presented to the Board in writing within
30 days before January 31 of each year.
After due notice and hearing the Board may suspend or revoke any license
or certificate of sanitation issued under this chapter per violation of the
provisions of the chapter.
The following requirements for a tattooing shop must be complied with
in order to qualify for and hold a certificate of sanitation:
A.
The shop shall be so located or constructed as to prevent
the contamination of the work areas of the shop by dust from the street or
sidewalk.
B.
The shop shall be maintained in a sanitary condition.
C.
All walls, ceilings and floors shall be smooth and easily
cleaned. Walls and ceilings are to be painted a light color. Walls, ceilings
and floors shall be kept clean and free from dust and debris. The floor shall
be swept and wet mopped daily. The floor, walls or ceilings shall not be swept
or cleaned while tattooing is in operation.
D.
Adequate lighting and ventilation must be provided.
E.
Each tattooing shop shall contain a sink for the exclusive
use of the tattoo artists to wash their hands and prepare the customers for
tattooing. The sink shall be provided with adequate hot and cold running water.
There shall also be available at the sink approved soap, clean individual
towels and refuse containers.
F.
Adequate toilet, urinal and hand washing facilities shall
be available on the shop premises for the use of customers and tattoo artist.
Toilets, urinals and hand washing facilities shall be maintained in a sanitary
condition at all times.
G.
An adequate number of work tables shall be provided for
each tattoo artist. The surface of all work tables shall be constructed of
metal or other material which is smooth, light colored, nonabsorbent, corrosive-resistant
and easily sanitized.
H.
The shop shall be arranged so that work tables will be
located at least 10 feet from observer or waiting customers or such work tables
shall be separated from observers or waiting customers by a panel or other
barrier at least six feet high. The panel may be constructed of glass, solid
plastic or similar material.
I.
Proper closed cabinets for the exclusive storage of instruments,
dyes, pigments, carbon stencils and other paraphernalia used in the shop shall
be provided for each tattoo artist.
J.
The tattooing shop shall have proper facilities for the
disposition of waste materials.
K.
Each tattoo artist shall be provided with individual
hand brushes and fingernail files.
L.
Signs shall be posted reading "No spitting on the floor
of this shop."
M.
The holder of any certificate of sanitation shall not
allow a tattoo artist to perform in his tattoo shop unless the tattoo artist
is the holder of a valid license as defined herein this chapter.
N.
The holder of a certificate of sanitation shall maintain
proper records of each patron. A record of each patron shall include the date
in which he was tattooed, his name and his signature, address and age, the
design of the tattoo and its location on his body, his branch of service,
rate or rank and serial number if in the armed services and the name of the
tattoo artist who tattooed him. These records shall be entered in ink in a
bond book kept solely for this purpose. This book shall be available at reasonable
hours for examination by the Board or any law enforcement officer and shall
be preserved for at least three years from the date of the last entry therein.
Written consent permitting the tattooing of individuals under 18 years of
age will be kept on file for three years by the holder of the certificate
of sanitation for the tattoo shop in which the tattoo was performed.
O.
Only tattooing shall be permitted in the tattoo shop.
The tattoo artist will use standards of aseptic technique in tattooing,
dressing and other operations that are approved by the Board. They will use
only such germicides and dressings as are approved by the Board. All instruments,
needles, stencils, dyes, pigments, dressing materials, razors, hand brushes,
fingernail files and other equipment used by the tattoo artist while tattooing
shall be sterile. The following minimum standard shall be observed at all
times:
A.
No person, except a duly licensed physician, shall practice
tattooing in any place other than a tattooing shop per which a certificate
of sanitation has been issued.
B.
It shall be unlawful to perform any tattooing on an individual
who is under the influence of intoxicating liquor and/or drugs.
C.
It shall be unlawful to perform any tattooing on an individual
under the age of 18 years without the written consent of the parents or legal
guardian of such individual. Such written consent shall be kept on file as
provided for by these regulations. No person under the age of 16 will be allowed
to obtain a tattoo.
D.
No person with any disease in the communicable form or
suspected of having such disease shall engage in tattooing. Such disease may
include but shall not be limited to: the common cold, influenza, tuberculosis,
scabies, impetigo, syphilis, chicken pox, gonorrhea, AIDS, measles, German
measles (Rubella), mumps, whooping cough, hepatitis, infection on hands or
arms, sore throat or jaundice of the skin or sclerae. The Board may require
a certificate signed by a duly licensed physician stating that the said person
is free from communicable diseases before permission to resume operation is
granted.
E.
Immediately after tattooing a patron, tattoo artist shall
advise the patron on the care of the tattoo and shall instruct the patron
to consult a physician at the first sign of infection of the tattoo.
F.
Each tattoo artist must wear a clean outer garment.
G.
Each tattoo artist shall have an individual fingernail
file, an individual hand brush which shall be clean and sterilized before
each use by boiling for 15 minutes or by immersion in an approved germicide
solution for not less than 20 minutes. Germicidal solutions used to sterilize
shall be changed daily and the container thoroughly cleansed.
H.
Before working on each patron, each tattoo artist shall
clean his fingernails with his individual nail file and shall thoroughly wash
and scrub his hands with hot running water, an approved soap and his individual
hand brush.
I.
That portion of the patron's skin to be tattooed shall
be prepared by washing with hot water and approved soap; by shaving with a
sterile safety razor and a single-service blade; and shaving shall be followed
by a thorough cleansing with hot water and approved soap applied with a clean
disposable cotton or gauze. A sterile hand brush shall be used, if necessary,
to produce a clean skin area.
J.
Following the cleansing of the patron's skin, the tattoo
artist shall again wash and scrub his hands in the manner prescribed above.
He shall allow his hands to dry without the use of a towel or mechanical means.
Before placing the design on the patron's skin, the tattoo artist shall treat
the skin area with 70% alcohol or other approved germicidal solution which
shall be applied with sterile cotton or sterile gauze.
K.
Only petroleum jelly, United States Pharmacopoeia or
National Formulary, shall be applied to the area to be tattooed, and it shall
be in collapsible metal or plastic tubes. The application may be spread by
the use of sterile gauze but not directly with the fingers.
L.
The stencil for transferring the design to the skin shall
be thoroughly cleansed and rinsed in an approved germicidal solution for at
least 20 minutes, and then it shall be dried by sterile gauze or the air before
each use.
M.
In preparing nontoxic dyes or pigments, only nontoxic
or sterile material shall be used. Single-service or individual portions of
dyes or pigments in clean, sterilized, individual containers or single-service
containers must be used for each patron. After tattooing, the remaining unused
dye or pigment in the single-service or individual containers must be discarded.
The individual container must be resterilized or discarded. All dyes or pigments
used in tattooing shall be approved by the Board.
N.
A set of individual single-service sterilized needles
shall be used for each new patron. Following sterilization, needles shall
be shaken dry, and, if not immediately used, stored in petroleum jelly, United
State Pharmacopoeia or National Formulary, and placed in a sterile, dust-tight
container. The open end of the needle tube of the tattooing machine shall
be cleaned and sterilized in an approved manner before each use. Not less
than 24 sets of sterilized needles and tubes or tips must be on hand for the
entire day or night operation.
O.
As the tattoo operation progresses any excess dye or
pigment applied to the skin shall be removed with sterile gauze or sterile
cotton.
P.
The completed tattoo shall have the excess dye or pigment
removed with sterile gauze. It shall then be washed with a piece of sterile
gauze or sterile cotton saturated with an approved germicidal solution. It
shall be allowed to dry. After drying, petroleum jelly, United States Pharmacopoeia
or National Formulary shall be applied from a collapsible metal or plastic
tube and the entire area covered with a piece of sterile gauze, which may
in turn be covered with a piece of tissue and fastened to the site with an
approved type of adhesive.
Q.
Storage cabinets shall be maintained in a sanitary condition,
and all instruments, dyes, pigments, stencils and other paraphernalia shall,
when not being used, be kept in them in an orderly arrangement.
R.
Work tables shall be kept clean and orderly.
S.
No tattooing operation shall be carried out closer than 10 feet from the observers or waiting customers unless such operation is separated from observers or waiting customers by a panel or other barrier as provided by § 191-8.
T.
No person, except a duly licensed physician, shall engage
in the practice of removing any tattoo.
Any person who shall knowingly or willfully make any false statements
to the Board relative to any matter under this chapter or who shall violate
any provision of the chapter shall, upon conviction thereof before any judge
or officer authorized to hear and determine the matter, be subject to a fine
of not less than $250 nor more than $500 for each violation, to be recovered
by the Municipal Court of the Borough of Wrightstown. In addition, any person
convicted under this chapter shall have his license or certificate of sanitation
suspended for one year.
No person shall state or imply in any advertisement or in any other
way that the tattoo establishment is endorsed, regulated or approved by the
Borough of Wrightstown or by any of its departments, boards or representatives,
or is conducted in compliance with the terms of this chapter.
