Redound Spa in Ottawa has been issued a total of 86 health and safety violations since 2013, with a median of 8 infractions per inspection, according to an analysis of the City of Ottawa’s public health inspections data.
The spa, located on Bank Street in Centretown, has received the vast majority of its infractions for improperly sterilizing and cleaning equipment and the surrounding area (using linens for one customer only, ensuring surfaces are properly cleaned).
The three most common infractions were for using improperly sterilized or unsterilized equipment. As a spa and hair salon, there are two separate infractions for sterilizing and cleaning equipment, one for general equipment (hair scissors, brushes) and the other specific for manicure and pedicure equipment (cuticle cutters, foot scrubs).
The other most common infraction was for using equipment more than once that cannot be sterilized or disinfected. This is typically manicure and pedicure equipment. The regulations stipulate that such equipment must be single-use, meaning the spa employees were using the same tool for multiple clients.
These three types of infractions were each indicated in 9 of the 11 recorded inspections the city has publicly available for the spa.
Despite several phone calls, voicemails and in-person attempts, the owner of the spa was unavailable for comment.
Inspections are routine as part of the City of Ottawa’s regular check-ins for institutions like spas, tattoo parlours and hair salons to ensure they follow Ontario’s health and safety protocols.
According to a spokesperson from Ottawa Public Health, the health inspectors use “educational, procedural, and re-inspection measures to ensure compliance” with the regulations. The spokesperson said that the inspectors can “take action” with institutions that present health hazards, like forced shut down or removing the items the officer deems hazardous. What constitutes a health hazard is determined by the health officers.
While action notes from the inspections officer are not available in the data, re-inspection appears to be one method public health officers have taken in the past with Redound Spa. On August 12, 2015, the spa received six infractions, below their median count. Just one week later, on August 19, there was another inspection and the spa only received one infraction. According to the data, the interval between regular inspections is at least one month.
There was another instance where two inspections similarly took place a week or so apart, in 2013.
Katherine McMahon visited Redound Spa last month on a Groupon coupon, and she says she will never go there again. She says that while she was there for a manicure, the nail technician cut her finger with the cuticle cutters.
“She cut it bad,” said McMahon, who moved to Ottawa from France in June so was trying to find a new salon. “It was just bleeding and bleeding and bleeding.”
She said the spa employee tried several ways to stop the bleeding, including pouring the alcohol used for the manicures, dipping it in cold water, and she said the employee even tried using nail glue (to adhere fake nails) to hold the skin together.
“They could have managed it so differently which is why I left such a nasty review,” said McMahon.
Of course, accidents do happen and this may not constitute a health and safety infraction, however using the same tools after the finger was cut might raise some public health eyebrows.
The most recent available health inspection dates June 9 of this year, with a count of six infractions.
Featured image: Redound Spa in Ottawa receives an average of almost 8 infractions per health and safety inspection. [Photo © Rachel Levy-McLaughlin]