When working in the salon industry, proper ergonomics are the key to a long and healthy career. After all, it’s these practices that most effectively prevent the development of painful injuries by promoting optimal posturing and comfort. As such, many salon owners have taken to building their facilities with these aspects in mind—making them an overall better place to work in the process. This is how to design an ergonomic salon space for both your clients and your team.

Invest in the Right Seating

For clients, the most important area to have ergonomic solutions is in the stylist’s chair. While made to help place the individual in the correct position for cutting their hair, these seats can be uncomfortable for longer periods of time. They also tend to promote bad posture and can leave guests with a sore neck or back as a result. So, make sure you’re purchasing chairs that are just as supportive to sit in as they are functional to the stylists. This same logic should apply to your waiting area seats as well.

Use Padding on the Floor

On the other hand, your stylists will find themselves standing throughout each of their appointments. Though this is tolerable for the first few hours, longer days may yield foot and leg pain that can evolve into more serious conditions. Because of this, it’s recommended you place anti-fatigue pads on the ground near each of the salon’s work stations. These products will help reduce some of the pressure  from standing for so long and promote a better upright posture as well.

Raise the Height of Workstations

Increasing the height of your stylist’s workstations can also greatly affect their comfort. Even with the styling chairs at their maximum height, hairdressers still often find themselves leaning downward to create the proper cutting angles. For this reason, it’s easy to develop poor habits that lead to injuries later on. Therefore, taking this chance to slightly raise the mirrors and tool stations will make it much more natural to maintain an upright posture.

Supply Stylists With Ergonomic Tools

One of the most important aspects of designing an ergonomic salon is the type of equipment you’ll have your employees use. Unergonomic cutting shears are the largest contributors to painful hand and wrist conditions, such as carpal tunnel syndrome. Once stylists develop it, it can become increasingly difficult to do their jobs. As such, it’s important you acquire tools with the right type of handle for fluid and repetitive cutting motions.