1              Overview

Our accreditation program has been developed in recognition that the Solarium industry is very much unregulated, and whilst there are many good and sound operators, there are a few that do not comply with the industry guidelines.

Our accreditation program is aimed at providing independent validation of the solarium processes and practices.

2              In simple terms

The accreditation program requires Solariums to have in place policies, procedures and records to demonstrate sound management and technical practice, but also compliance with the standards.

We will undertake audits/business reviews of solariums seeking accreditation, and at least yearly for those solariums that have achieved accreditation.

Accredited solariums can use and display the Trust-Mark® to demonstrate their compliance, provide confidence and assurance to their Clients or potential Clients.

3              Specific program conditions

3.1         Governance

The Solarium must have a governance framework.  If the Solarium does not have an Advisory Committee, it must have, use and provide records of external peer review of its practices and officers, via a reputable and duly recognised external organisation.

If the Solarium has an Advisory Committee, the composition of the committee should be representative of the Solarium’s practitioners, nursing and management staff, and should ensure that no interest dominates.  Meetings should be held regularly and minuted.

The management structure, roles, responsibilities, authorities and reporting channels of the various positions within the organisations must be defined and documented. Staff must be made aware.

A person should be appointed as the “accreditation representative” and be the central coordinator for all accreditation matters, including compliance with this document.  This position should also have the organisational freedom and authority to:

·         report breaches to the standard,

·         report patient care incidents or accidents (either actual or potential),

·         review Client feedback data. 

These authorities should be provided by the appropriate and most senior governance medical practitioner within the Solarium.

3.2         Internal audits

The Solarium must conduct regular internal audits of its activities against its internal policies and procedures, legislation and circulars as applicable.  Audits must be undertaken by a person who is independent from the activity being audited, and adequately qualified as an internal auditor.

Actions arising from the audit must be formally reported, and processed.

3.3         Controlling documentation

The management system of the Solarium must demonstrate evidence that:

·         It has been review and approved before being released and used within the Solarium (this also applies to revisions of the system)

·         It is distributed on a controlled copy basis within the Solarium, and is maintained up to date

·         Staff members are trained in the updates to the system, and have the ability to make or request changes

·         Changes to system documents must be identified within the documents themselves

The Solarium must have a system to access, review for relevance and control relevant external documents (standards, codes, legislation, circulars etc).  The system must also ensure that the Solarium take actions as appropriate.

3.4         Incident reporting

The Solarium must have a procedure in place to record and manage incidents, accidents, failures, complaints and other unexpected variations, either actual or potential.

The procedure must ensure that such issues are:

·         Identified

·         Immediate action is taken

·         The effectiveness of these action is followed up

·         An investigation of the cause is undertaken

·         If appropriate, given the risks involved, action to prevent re-occurrence is identified (including system/training changes)

·         Action to prevent re-occurrence is followed up, to ensure it is effective

Records should be available to demonstrate that the above actions have been undertaken.

3.5         Training needs and monitoring

The Solarium must have procedures in place to identify key competencies, assessing staff against these competencies, identifying training or education needs, planning the delivery of the training or education, and maintaining records.

This must include emergency, infection control, and fire safety, together with induction and training into the Solarium, its equipment, patients, systems and processes.

3.6         Compliance with AS2635:2002

The Solarium must have procedures, policies and records to address the requirements of AS2635, and records to demonstrate its on-going compliance with the Standard.

4              What documents/records are needed to understand this program

In order to understand our program, you should also access and be aware of the following documents:

·         G-00: Welcome Pack

·         MSP-00: Introduction to our management systems

·         MSP-01: Nomenclature and definitions

·         MSP-24 Appeals

How to Apply