Tattoo Hygiene Rating Scheme

The council is launching a new tattoo hygiene rating scheme (THRS) to help drive up standards and improve hygiene.

The voluntary scheme is being implemented to protect residents from the dangers associated with unlicensed tattooists.

The THRS is supported by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and the Tattoo and Piercing Industry Union, and will be delivered across Tower Hamlets from 1 June 2016.

Several other areas of the UK have implemented similar schemes, but Tower Hamlets is the first local authority in London to do so.

The scheme will:

1. Inform the public about the hygiene standards in premises at the time of the most recent inspection;
2. Drive up standards and adoption of best practice across the industry;
3. Reduce the risk of incidents of infection and of transmission of infectious disease from tattooing procedures.

Participation in the scheme is by application, and tattooists participating in the scheme can withdraw from it at any time.

Participating premises and the local authority are bound by the rules of the scheme.

There is no charge for participating in the scheme.

Participating premises will be allocated a rating following a programmed inspection. That rating can be displayed on a certificate in the premises and on a window sticker.

Premises will be rated as one of four categories (see the rating criteria):

1. Needs improvement
2. Satisfactory
3. Good
4. Very Good.

Any premises will be reassessed by the council regularly or at the request of the operator of the premises after three months.

A comprehensive list of premises participating in the scheme will appear on this webpage and on the CIEH Wales website.

If you would like to participate in the scheme, you can download an application form and send it to the address below.

Tattoo artists can complete a Scratcher Catcher form if they are approached by customers who have had a bad tattoo job elsewhere.

Premises that have been rated in Tower Hamlets are listed here: