The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7899199.stm

OK she used it more than she should have but the place was unmanned, unless there's some sort of failsafe mechanism that stops prolonged use then this was just asking for trouble.

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

I'm disappointed this bloke is going to be run into the ground over this. The girl read - and - ignored clear safety warnings. You can't protect everyone from themselves as some would have you believe.

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

Wow.....thats scary, you can even see her label marks!!

Im going to forward it to my daughter at uni, what ever I say she still pops on them now and again.

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

She's 14 punky..places like this should be out of bounds to anyone under 16 in my view...:(

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

I am atually in two minds about this. While I do think these are potentially dangerous machines (well, I don't just think it, they are) and am suprised that they are allowed to operate unmanned tanning salons, I do think that people should take some responsibility for their own actions. You can be badly burnt walking out in the Sun.

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

Kirsty said she had no idea the tanning booths were so dangerous.
Where has she been for the last 14 years?. Are all Welsh girls this stupid?:D:D:D

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Without staff though, how would you enforce it?

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

come on lets be fair, this is stupid children again, what about the parents didnt they know where she was? its all the same if its drinking,smoking,sex now sunbeds if the teenager wants to do it they will, then when it goes wrong they blame anybody but themselves.

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

Precisely! So unmanned sunbeds are a no no for precisely this reason..children aren't always as clued up as you would think..After all how many of us were interested in boring things like watching the news or reading newspapers when we were 14?

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

even if there were staff in there, are they really going to stop someone who's been in longer than x minutes?

personally I find it sad that anyone would want to use a sunbed at all, no substitute for a bit of sunshiiiiiiine

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

Which brings us to those who abdicate all responsibilities to their 'customers'.

I personally wouldn't want to use an unmanned anything just in case it malfunctioned anyway...

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

She's just been on the radio stating that it's the salons fault...sounds like a trailer park money grabber who's looking for a bit of compensation...

If she ignored the signs (and there would ahve been signs as to no-one under 16 without supervision) then it's her own stupid fault.. From hearing her though I bet she won't learn her lesson...

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

Still don't like the idea of an unmanned coin in the slot sunbed anyway for previous stated reason.

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

another reason to ban these places

should be 18 + and manned

shes 14 she cant legally enter a contract so i hope they throw the book at them maybe the insurers will stop them then

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

I once misused a sun bed as a sandwich toaster. Took me ages to get the cheese off it.

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

I actually use sunbeds for therapeutic reasons although I've not been on them since before xmas. I have psoriasis and for some reason they really clear it up - at the moment i have it on my face, patches on the tops of my arms and my legs.

The ones i use have quite responsible owners, they don't allow anyone under 16 to use them and question you profusely about skin type, length spent on them and also go over the dangers which i think they are legally obliged to display.

The girl has been stupid to think anyone would believe she thought they were 100% safe, but the owners also have a responsibility to ensure kids aren't using them and people are using them carefully :dozey:

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

As long as you don;t use the sandwich toaster as a sunbed...I can just imagine the griddle marks :D

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

so responsible adults have to suffer for stupid teenagers ? the buisness has done nothing wrong the girl is a fool!

---------- Post added at 18:19 ---------- Previous post was at 18:18 ----------

:tu::tu:

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

Probably not, but the company (and the local council if they are anything like mine) can test to see if they are by the use of "phantom customers" (people paid to go in and test the staff).

Even if the staff didn't enforce it, the fact they are there may help protect the company in the event of legal action, as long as the company can demonstrate that they have procedures for enforcing this requirement.

---------- Post added at 18:24 ---------- Previous post was at 18:20 ----------

How is ensuring that these salons are staffed causing responsible adults to suffer?

The business has done nothing wrong (legally anyway) but if they are sucessfully sued for this and claim it from their liability insurance, then responsible adults will suffer as the owners of other similar business will have to pay increased premiums..

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

At 14 I read warning notices though. If I headache I looked at the packet and if it said 1 tablet, I took 1 tablet. Not 1 tablet for 5 mins and then decide I have a really bad headache and have 3 more, and then complain someone should have stopped me when I was ill.

If this man was negligent and there were no signs up, then fair enough, string him up by his toes. I'm in favour of putting superfluous warning notices on everything to protect the truly dense people in this world (like the woman who sued Mickey Ds because they didn't warn her that her coffee was hot). However, if there are warning notices up and people ignore them, what can you do? If it was manned what's to stop her maxing out the limit at that salon and moving to another one straight after? Who is to blame then?

I wish the parent/daughter would come out warning people of the dangers of suntanning, rather than trying to ruin this owner's livelyhood because her daughter wilfull neglected to heed health warnings.

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

staff cost money so that cost would be reflected in increased costs so the adult pays more because of stupid teenagers, as for being sued if the buisness is legal and the signs are present what case is there? if that were the case cant the alcohol suppliers be sued for the underage drunken behaviour, as i stated earlier if the feral teenager wants to do something/anything then they will.

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

That is assuming that the signs were clearly displayed when she went in, and not just after. If the prosecution were able to prove they were not clearly displayed, then the signs would offer no protection regardless of whether they were there or not.

Because Alchohol is only sold in manned outlets, so the rules about underage drinking can be enforced, and if they are not, action can be taken.

If they started selling alchol in Vending machines then that might be a good comparison.

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

Must remember that excuse..........

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

That is so true.

The "mother" should accept responsibility for her daughters actions. The daughter is still a child fgs.

But no, as ever with the blame culture we have, it's easier to blame anybody else than admit zero parenting skills. :rolleyes:

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

One word for her, PRAT. She said, "when she came off she didn't think she was tanned enough", you can't tell the difference until a few days later. I used sunbeds once a week for 10 minutes, it clears my skin up and gives me a healthy glow, there's nothing wrong with them if they are used right. She's after some compensation which she's not going to get because she shouldn't have been in threre in the first place.

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

While they should *both* be aware of the potential problems of even controlled use of sunbeds, and the daughter should have been aware that she shouldn't go over the limit (even without seeing signs and never having been on a sunbed, I knew that you shouldn't go over the limit), and the daughter should have been aware that it takes a while to tan, it's a little strong to say that the mother is a bad parent or has zero parenting skills. As far as we know, the mother made ONE mistake. She may not have even done that. She may have been unaware that her daughter was using sunbeds.

Assuming you have kids, have you ever told them how to use Sunbeds correctly? If you haven't, does that make you a bad parent? It's not something I can recall my mum telling me, and she certainly wasn't a bad parent.

I still don't like the idea of unmanned salons though, and find it staggering that we have a government that is happy to allow people to expose themselves to fairly high levels of radiation using devices that have been known to cause cancer in unsupervised environments, but is happy to ban things that are a lot safer.

---------- Post added at 10:17 ---------- Previous post was at 10:15 ----------

She may get it if the health and safety executive find that there were no clearly visible signs in the shop stating that before she used a sunbed. You can bet your bottom dollar there are signs there now.

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

With respect though she IS only a kid. There are some pretty smart 14 year olds out there but evidently some are around who aren't playing with a full deck.

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

there are also some adults around here who aren't playing with a full deck :D

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

Well that's their own look-out. But a 14 year old can't be expected to carry much of the blame in this.

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

a 15 year old can get the pill and have a baby, but a 14 year old can't have the brain capacity to know when to stop using a sun bed? :erm:

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

To be honest I don't care about the ages of whomever is using the stupid sunbed I'm just concerned that a dangerous machine in unmanned during it's use..What if the thing malfunctions while someone is using it?

Anything to save paying a wage and cutting corners on H&S..

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

My highlighted part of your post is the bit I was aiming at Stuart.

Parents of children should know where their children are and what they are doing. Quite clearly her mother didn't or I'm sure she would have given her suitable advice (YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE THEM!! ) :)

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

only if the medical practitioner ( note that a real person not an unatended medical robot ) decides they are capable of understanding what they are doing

and 12 year olds have had babies but i doubt you would say they were old enough to have one

the law in this country says those under 18 cant normaly enter a contract unless normaly a court or in some cases a competant person decides they are capable of knowing what they are doing ( again real people )

unattended tanning saloons in my view ( and a bet a court would hold the same one ) will have no defense against a claim for damages for an under 18 child wo is injuered and i can see a posibilty of even criminal charges for reckless endangerment

could even be a child protection problem for them as if a 14 year old can get in there i cant see what would stop even younger children some of whom would be quite capable of operateing this sort of equipement.

i personaly see no diference here to say if some one left a kitchen open to use at a charge with all the ineherent dangers with nothing to stop kids using it !

i am all for personal responsibilty and teaching it to kids but that doesnt involve leaving them alone with dangerous equipement

---------- Post added at 13:18 ---------- Previous post was at 13:12 ----------

parent may have know roughly where she was but at 14 i would not expect my child who say had told me she was going to town with friends to tell me every shop she was going in

what i would expect is for the shops in town to be relatively safe and say for instance have things in place to say stop her playing in the kitchen area with hot things that could burn her !

i personally would be against her using sunbeds but some are not but even those i would expect that the use of them would be seen to be safe by some real person during the time they let a hild be out with out them.

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

So, you know *exactly* where your kids are and what they are doing at all times? Most parents, in my experience, don't.

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

agree totally. Natural Selection was testing the water on her there... He'll be back...

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

the girl is 14 and therefore it matters not whether she understood or not mainly because there was no one there to decide if she was capable of doing so

not all 14 year olds are the same which is why we have the age of consent for MOST things set at 18

i am not saying they should not take responsibility for things they do BUT when it comes to things that can be dangerous that they are not using on a daily basis ( so i am not saying they should be kept away from all danger ) then there should be an adult there to asses whether they are capable of using or doing this sort of thing

( wondering if i can get away with opening an unatended gun club with a book at front to sign they know what they are doing to absolve my self from any risk ;) )

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

it happens again

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/8028898.stm

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

In Wales again... hmmmm.

What is it about these girls?

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

I don't think it's specific to Wales but last time I was out in Swansea there were a LOT of orange-faced teens.

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

they are young and impresionable whichis why there should be adults looking after this equipment

even the Sunbed Association says they dont think that they sould be unattended and wont let those shops join them

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

I've never been to a tanning salon where you put coins in a machine. You tend to pay the staff and they allocate you minutes, after going through a thorough check on skin type, moles etc.

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

I used to go to one a lot until I found out what I thought was a birthmark on the back of my head was actually a large mole. I was never quizzed about it.

Saying that though there is a tanning salon in Port Talbot which is coin operated.

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

I suppose it depends on the shop then eh? But then again, i've walked in some over the years and walked straight back out because of the state of the place - before even seeing if the beds were coin operated :erm:

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

I've just found out that the coin-operated salon in Port Talbot is the very one at the centre of this latest story.

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10 years old for gods sake??

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Clear case of her being a moron, and the Health and Safety Nazis being even more moronic.... Epic Fail all round IMO....:dozey:

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shes 10 that just makes her a child not a moron there should be staff at these places

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/8401364.stm

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

At 10 years old SHE should not bee unattended. The 14 year old i can understand her being allowed in a town center on her own but a 10 year old should not have been. The second story is 100% the parents fault IMHO.

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

So the owner was completely at fault.

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

If you admit to speeding, not wearing a seatbelt, having no MOT or insurance and you knock someone over who stepped out in front of your car because they thought they wouldn't get hurt then it wouldn;t be totally the drivers fault..

In this case I don't think we can say the owner was completely at fault but his actions probably contributed 90% to the outcome

Re: The dangers of sunbed misuse
 

people also dont realise when going on sunbeds that theres a limit before the risk of skin cancer increases.

I suffer from Psoriasis and atm its very severe and im having to have UV treatment and after 150 treatments risk increases and the max dosage in a lifetime is something like 300 doses.