OHS Instruction in a Beauty Salon

An OHS instruction for a beauty salon (instrukcja BHP) is a document the employee keeps at hand at her workstation. It says what to do before starting work, how to work safely, what to do afterwards and how to act in an emergency. It is not the same thing as an occupational risk assessment or initial OHS training. These three documents complement each other, but each answers a different question.

Below we explain which instructions the rules require you to make available to staff, what they should contain, how to tell them apart from the risk assessment and how to confirm that an employee knows them. If you are hiring your first person, start with the overview in our article on hiring your first stylist.

Key points

• The employer issues detailed OHS instructions and guidance for workstations (Article 237⁴(2) of the Labour Code).
• The regulation on general health and safety rules lists four areas of instructions: work involving hazards, operating machinery and equipment, handling harmful and dangerous materials, and giving first aid. They must be up to date and available for constant use.
• An instruction should state what to do before work, the rules of safe work, what to do after work and how to act in emergencies, in a way employees can understand.
• Instructions on hazardous substances and mixtures take into account the information in safety data sheets.
• The risk assessment and the instruction are two separate documents. The employee confirms she has read the OHS rules, on paper or electronically.

What a workstation OHS instruction is and when you need one

The rules do not use the term "workstation OHS instruction". The Labour Code speaks of detailed OHS instructions and guidance for workstations (Article 237⁴(2)). The regulation of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy on general health and safety rules (§ 41) requires the employer to make up-to-date OHS instructions available to employees for constant use. In a salon, the practical equivalent is a set of short instructions for each workstation.

The duty applies to employees, so it starts with the first person on an employment contract. If people work in your premises on a civil-law contract (zlecenie) or on B2B, Article 304 of the Labour Code requires you to provide them with safe and hygienic working conditions, and Article 304¹ extends the duties from Article 211 (including following OHS guidance) to them as well. That is why it pays to give everyone the same set of instructions even without an employment contract. If you work alone, the regulation does not require instructions for yourself, but instructions written at the start make it easier to onboard your first employee.

What an OHS instruction in a beauty salon should cover

The regulation names the areas in which instructions must be made available. Below we translate them into salon examples. This is a suggested structure, not an official template, so adapt it to your equipment and products.

Area in § 41	Salon example	What the content is based on
Work involving accident or health hazards	Removing gel polish, drilling, working with a lamp, brow and lash treatments	Risk assessment for the workstation
Operating machinery and equipment	Nail drill, lamp, autoclave, pouch sealer	Manufacturers' instructions and equipment documentation
Handling harmful and dangerous materials	Nail products, adhesives, disinfectants	Safety data sheets, e.g. the SDS of lash glue
Giving first aid	Redness or swelling after a treatment, a cut, a splash in the eye	First aid kit and first aid in the salon

Layout of a single instruction

The regulation states what each instruction must indicate, in a way employees can understand. Build it along this pattern:

1. Before starting work. For example, checking that ventilation works, that the equipment has no visible damage and that the workstation is prepared.
2. Safe performance of the work. The successive steps, personal protective equipment, and what must not be combined or done.
3. After finishing work. Switching off equipment, putting away and securing products, cleaning the workstation.
4. Emergencies. A spilled product, equipment failure, product contact with skin or eyes, a cut, the emergency number and who to notify.

Instructions on hazardous substances or their mixtures take into account the information in safety data sheets. Take the content from the sheets supplied by the manufacturer, not from general guides. We describe working conditions around fumes in the article on ventilation and chemical substances in OHS.

We did not check fire safety rules, so we do not cover fire safety instructions or requirements for a specific building. That is a separate matter, which you settle according to the type of premises.

Occupational risk assessment vs the instruction: two documents

The most common mistake is to assume that one document covers both duties. The risk assessment says which hazards exist. The instruction says what the employee should do so that she is not harmed by them.

	Occupational risk assessment	OHS instruction
Legal basis	Article 226(1) of the Labour Code, § 39a of the regulation on general OHS rules	Article 2374(2) of the Labour Code, § 41 of the regulation
The question it answers	Which hazards are there at the workstation and how big is the risk?	How do I do the work safely and what do I do in an emergency?
Content	Description of the workstation, working environment factors, assessment results, preventive measures, date and assessors	Steps before work, during work, after work and in emergencies
Who it is for	The employer and employees, who learn about the risk	The employee at the workstation, for constant use

The order of work is simple: first the assessment, then the instructions, and finally the workstation briefing (instruktaż stanowiskowy), in which you show the employee how to use them. The framework programme for the workstation briefing includes discussing the results of the risk assessment (see also the description of OHS training on the PIP website, in Polish). How to write the assessment itself is described in the article on the occupational risk assessment for a nail stylist, and the course of the training in the text on initial OHS training in a beauty salon.

How to familiarise an employee with the instruction and confirm it with a signature

The Labour Code requires you to familiarise employees with the OHS rules and principles relating to the work they do. The employee, in turn, confirms she has read the OHS rules and principles on paper or electronically (Article 237⁴(1) and (3)). The rule does not require a separate signature list under each instruction, but that is the easiest way to document that the employee has learned a specific version.

1. Prepare the full set of instructions and mark each with a version date.
2. Make them available at the workstation or in a place the employee can always access. The regulation requires them to be available for constant use but does not specify the place. The exception: first aid instructions must hang next to the first aid kit (§ 44).
3. Go through them during the workstation briefing, at the workstation, with a demonstration.
4. Ask for a confirmation with date and signature on a familiarisation list, on paper or electronic.
5. After a change of equipment or product, update the instruction and repeat the familiarisation.

Instructions must be understandable to employees. If your team includes people with limited Polish, prepare a version in a second language. An example onboarding plan for mixed Polish-Ukrainian teams is in the article on training a new stylist from Ukraine.

Frequently asked questions

Is an OHS instruction mandatory in a salon with no employees?

The rule on instructions speaks of making them available to employees. We found no duty toward a person who works alone and employs no one. Still, writing instructions at the start is a good base for the day you hire your first stylist.

Do I need a separate instruction for each device?

The rule requires instructions on operating machinery and equipment but does not set the number of documents or their form. What matters is that they cover the named areas, are up to date and are understandable. In a small salon, short separate cards for the nail drill, the lamp and the autoclave are usually easier to read than one long document.

Does the instruction have to hang on the wall?

The regulation requires instructions to be available for constant use and does not specify the place. It does state expressly that the first aid instruction must be displayed next to the first aid kit, together with a list of the people designated to give that aid.

How often should I update the instructions?

The rule says instructions must be up to date and sets no deadline. Update them whenever equipment, a product or the way of working changes, and repeat the familiarisation with the employee.

Does the employee have to sign the instruction?

The Labour Code requires the employee to confirm, on paper or electronically, that she has read the OHS rules and principles. A signature on a familiarisation list for a specific version of the instruction is the simplest way to keep that evidence.

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Legal status as of: 2 November 2026
Legal basis: Articles 226(1), 237⁴(1)-(3), 304 and 304¹ of the Labour Code (consolidated text: Journal of Laws 2026, item 1245); §§ 39, 39a, 41 and 44 of the Regulation of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy of 26 September 1997 on general health and safety rules (consolidated text: Journal of Laws 2003, item 1650, as amended by Journal of Laws 2007, item 330, 2008, item 690, 2011, item 1034, 2021, item 2088 and 2026, item 927; § 41(2) in the wording of 2021; the 2026 amendment concerns § 30a on temperature); Regulation of the Minister of Economy and Labour of 27 July 2004 on health and safety training (Journal of Laws 2024, item 1327, Annex 1 part II). Not checked: fire protection rules and fire safety instructions, rules on chemical agents in the workplace beyond the reference to safety data sheets, PIP guidance on the form of instructions, equipment manufacturers' instructions and requirements for a specific building.
Last reviewed: 2 November 2026