Tanning salon owner sentenced to imprisonment due to 15-year-old girl's sunbed-induced fainting and severe burns.
Tanning salon owner Ryan Sihra of Abyss Tanning Studio in Middlesbrough, UK, received a 20-week jail sentence for disregarding safety precautions that led to a 15-year-old girl's horrific burns and suicidal feelings.
In June 2022, the teenager visited the salon for a sunbed session – her second in two days, which was against regulations because the salon failed to conduct proper age and safety checks. After eight minutes, she fainted and slumped against tanning tubes that were insufficiently protected, resulting in severe burns to her face, shoulder, and legs. The injuries necessitated plastic surgery and left her with life-long scarring.
Sihra pleaded guilty to violating Health and Safety at Work legislation by neglecting statutory age and safety checks during a court hearing at Teesside Magistrates' Court. The sunbed in question lacked an emergency cord for clients to use in case of emergencies. The girl's victim impact statement revealed her extreme distress.
"When I came out of the sunbed, I knew by my younger sister's face that I was going to need to go to hospital for treatment, but I could not know that the treatment would last three years and it is still not complete," she said. "I must live with this scar for the rest of my life and the toll it has taken on me can't even be articulated."
Following the tragedy, the local mother expressed gratitude for the "hard work" put in by the Environmental Health and Trading Standards teams, acknowledging that Sihra accepted responsibility for the incident.
Councillor Janet Thompson, an Executive member for Neighbourhoods, emphasized that consumers should not take tanning salon safety for granted. "This dreadful case is a timely reminder of how badly wrong things can go when the owners of such establishments show a cavalier and reckless disregard for the law and for people's safety," she warned.
In the UK, regulations outlined in the enrichment section below are designed to ensure the safety and health of tanning salon patrons. However, the devastating incidents like this one highlight the importance of salon owners adhering to these rules rigorously to prevent similar tragedies.
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- Despite the tragic incident at Abyss Tanning Studio, where owner Ryan Sihra was sentenced to 20 weeks in jail, some people still disregard tanning salon safety protocols.
- The teenage victim of the tanning salon incident, who suffered horrific burns and suicidal feelings, underwent multiple surgeries and now lives with lifelong scarring.
- The enrichment section outlines UK regulations designed to ensure the safety and health of tanning salon patrons, with strict rules on age and safety checks.
- Neglecting these regulations could lead to severe consequences, as demonstrated by Ryan Sihra's sentencing, who failed to conduct proper age and safety checks.
- As a result of this incident, it's crucial for tanning salon owners to adhere to health and safety regulations to prevent similar tragedies and protect their clients' mental, physical, and skin health.
- Beyond tanning salons, one must be mindful of various health-and-wellness aspects, such as mental-health concerns, skin-care, therapies-and-treatments for skin conditions, and overall medical-conditions to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
