Overview of common infection prevention and control infractions and complaints in personal service settings in Ontario in 2018: a descriptive analysis

Objectives Aesthetic services can pose a potential risk of infection to clients if instruments are not discarded or reprocessed after each use. Public health inspectors (PHIs) inspect personal service settings (PSS) to monitor compliance with infection prevention and control (IPAC) requirements. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of various IPAC infractions in Ontario PSS that were identified during routine compliance inspections and whether these were similar to those identified during investigations in these settings in which an IPAC lapse was deemed to exist. Methods PSS inspection results were analyzed from three public health units (PHUs) in Ontario in 2018. Premises were grouped into three premises types (hairdressing/barbering, aesthetics, and body modification) and infractions from 16 IPAC compliance categories were compared. Results of IPAC lapse investigations for all of Ontario were also compared across premises types. Results There were 5,386 inspections conducted in 4,483 PSS by three PHUs in 2018. PSS offering aesthetics were most likely to have infractions identified. Common infractions were related to inappropriate reuse of single-use and reusable instruments. Of the 121 IPAC lapses reported by PHUs in 2018, 52 (43.0%) were in PSS, and 73.1% of these were associated with nail salons/spas. Conclusions Operators could benefit from increased awareness of infection control best practices and the potential for infections to occur if these are not followed. PHIs could consider an alternate frequency of PSS inspection to increase operator education and compliance with minimum IPAC requirements.