Poor practices in NZ sunbed industry
February 4, 2016
Mystery Shopper Survey Results
Poor practices continue to exist among sunbed operators in New Zealand, according to the latest Consumer NZ mystery shopper survey.
For this survey, results of which were published on 4 February 2016, Consumer NZ visited 68 sunbed operators to check compliance with the Australian/New Zealand standard. They also sent underage shoppers and people with fair skin to 36 operators.
According to the survey, eight of 16 operators turned fair-skinned shoppers away. The sunbed standard recommends people with type 1 skin should not use a sunbed. Three operators also allowed an underage shopper to have a sunbed session.
According to Consumer NZ, operators generally find it difficult to differentiate between people with skin type 1 or skin type 2. As cited in their report, “Waikato District Health Board dermatology department Professor Marius Rademaker says a problem with skin-type questionnaires [such as the Ministry of Health’s current questionnaire] is that the answers are always subjective”. He advises that “looking at a person’s skin is not a particularly good way of discriminating between skin type 1 and 2, and studies have shown there are limitations to using patient-reported appearance to predict individual risk”.
With regard to the main survey, Consumer NZ found that 45 per cent of operators failed to implement basic safety requirements (compared with 40 per cent in their previous survey). Examples include limited warnings in the tanning area, inadequate eye protection, seeking signed consent that is compliant with the standards and the time allowed between sessions (the standard recommends at least 48 hours between sessions). Several operators also continue to display posters claiming benefits, including sunbeds as a source of UVB/vitamin D.
Based upon these results, Consumer NZ will be calling for a ban of sunbeds in New Zealand in its submission on Government proposals for industry regulation.