H'air : Frisörers arbetsmiljö

Sammanfattning: In the hairdressing profession you are every day han- dling dangerous chemicals. These chemicals are found in products they use for dyeing, bleaching and perming hair. In recent years it has become more popular then ever to change ones hair colour. This has increased the exposure to chemicals for the hairdressers. Some of the chemicals in the products are know to be cancerous and the profession is classified by IARC (International agency for research on cancer) as a risk profession. The airborne particles and fumes from the chemicals are also documented to give illnesses such as respiratory problems and rhinitis. Today’s rules in Sweden and rest of Europe are not very strict when it comes to how the cosmetic products should be handled, with one exception, Denmark has recently stated rule that demands all hair saloons that handles cosmetic products for dyeing hair to have local exhaust ventilation where colour is applied and mixed. In my research I saw that there is allot of single person businesses in the profession and decided that if I design for that target group I will also for fill the bigger em- ployers demands since the work flow is very similar. One other thing that was quite clear from the beginning was the importance that it fits into the saloon environment and their type of work. There are solutions on the market today witch could be installed but they are not designed with the hairdresser in mind and look like they belong in a laboratory. From my users I understood that the looks of the product was an very important part. It has to fit in aesthetically in their environment as they use their saloons to attract a certain type of clientele. The H’air concepts aims to create a new work flow for the hairdresser while handling and using chemicals for dyeing, bleaching and perming hair. By doing every single oper- ation in the process of colouring hair at the same place under a ventilation duct, the risk of spreading hazardous fumes in the room are minimized and the evacuation of the fumes are optimized, resulting in an improved work environment and health of hairdressers.