Tanning salons and nail bars in the North East are set to be targeted by health and safety officials in the coming months.

Aberdeenshire Council’s health and safety team will be inspecting 265 businesses that use items such as sun beds and nail salon chemicals.

Team manager Graham Robertson said the visits are part of a “proactive campaign” to check up on premises with “higher risk activities” and are being carried out as a preventative measure.

However, some in the area feel the checks are “overzealous”. One tanning salon manager said her business was already subject to strict public health legislation and that repeated inspections could make customers “think twice” and damage the business.  

Councillor Brian Topping, a member of the cross-party parliamentary group, believes the checks are crucial: “I fully appreciate people have differing views on health and safety. You can get individuals or businesses who cut corners. I think it’s the council being positive and supportive.”

Robertson will tell councillors today that his team will be targeting such premises. The bill for this year’s health and safety programme is expected to run to more than £285,000.