Sunbed operators still fail safety requirements

Two-thirds of sunbed operators in Consumer NZ's latest mystery shop of the industry failed to meet safety requirements.

While this is an improvement on the last nationwide survey in 2011 where only 17 percent met all safety requirements, it's not good enough says Consumer NZ CEO Sue Chetwin.

"Our mystery shoppers found operators who showed little concern for the safety of their clients. One mystery shopper was handed the keys and goggles, and sent to the cubicle to do it herself. She said she could have stayed in there as long as she liked and nobody would have known."

Consumer NZ mystery shoppers visited 60 sunbed operators in 12 centres. They booked a session and did their assessments in the tanning cubicles, but did not use the sunbeds. Each session was evaluated against key safety guidelines in the voluntary sunbed standard. These included whether the customer was asked to fill out a consent form, whether a skin assessment is done, whether eye protection was provided, information on follow-up sessions, and warning notices.

Chetwin said the other problem with lack of compliance was whether anyone checked if the sunbed units were properly calibrated - that is whether they deliver a controlled UV dose which is within safe limits. "One mystery shopper reported a notice which said the bed had new bulbs so reduce your time by 20 percent - this isn't something a customer should be left to work out," Chetwin said.

The more often you use a sunbed and the younger you start, the more you are at risk of skin cancer. Ten countries in Europe, several states in Canada and the USA have banned under -18s from sunbed use. In Brazil, sunbeds are banned.

In New Zealand a proposed amendment to the Health Act will stop under-18s from using commercial sunbeds. This is expected to come into effect this year.

Chetwin said the latest survey showed the industry was still not complying with the voluntary standard and that regulation was the only way to bring them into line.

She said sunbeds were not a safe way to tan or boost levels of vitamin D.