Tattoo, piercing and permanent makeup studios
The exposure control plan your studio needs, filled in for your shop
Artists, piercers and apprentices work with needles and blood every day. Gloveplan writes the plan around how your studio really runs: your stations, your sterilizing routine, your sharps and your clinic.
- Needles, tubes, blades and razors named in the plan
- Autoclave and spore-test wording if you sterilize
- Free preview, then $29 once
Exposure Control Plan
Northside Ink Studio LLC (made-up employer)
- Business
- Northside Ink Studio LLC
- Address
- 100 Sample Street, Springfield, TX 00000
- Plan Administrator
- Alex Morgan, Owner
- Administrator contact
- alex@example.com
- Effective date
- October 1, 2026
- Next annual review
- October 1, 2027
- Copy kept at
- the front desk binder
3. Exposure determination29 CFR 1910.1030(c)(2)
The Employer has decided which employees have occupational exposure. The decision is made without regard to personal protective equipment: a job counts as exposed even if gloves or other equipment are worn.
A. Job classifications in which all employees have occupational exposure
- Tattoo artist
- Piercer
- Apprentice
B. Job classifications in which some employees have occupational exposure
- Shop manager
C. Tasks and procedures that expose the employees listed in B
| Job classification | Tasks and procedures with occupational exposure |
|---|---|
| Shop manager | Setting up and cleaning stations; handling sharps containers and regulated waste; cleaning blood spills |
Tasks and procedures at this studio where exposure can occur
- Setting up and breaking down stations: needle bars, tubes, grips, ink caps and machine barriers
- Tattooing, including handling needles and cartridges during the procedure
- Body piercing, including handling piercing needles and inserting jewelry
- Skin preparation and stencil application, including shaving with single-use razors
- Wiping, cleaning and bandaging fresh tattoos and piercings
- Cleaning and disinfecting stations, chairs and equipment after each client
- Cleaning, packaging and sterilizing reusable instruments, including loading and unloading the autoclave
- Closing, moving and replacing sharps containers
- Handling regulated waste and bagging trash that may hold blood-soaked items
- Handling laundry that may be soiled with blood
- Cleaning up a blood spill or helping a client who is bleeding
- Giving first aid to a client or coworker
Job classifications with no occupational exposure
Front desk. If an employee in one of these jobs begins any task listed above, the Employer treats the job as exposed, updates this section, and trains the employee before the task starts.
Exposure
What counts as exposure in a studio
The standard asks you to list the jobs and tasks where staff could touch blood or other infectious material. For a studio that is usually all of these.
Tattooing and piercing
Handling needles and cartridges mid-procedure, wiping blood and plasma, inserting jewelry, and any cut or needlestick during the work.
Set-up and break-down
Opening sterile needles, bagging machines and clip cords, and stripping a station after the client leaves, when used needles and soaked paper towels are still on the tray.
Reprocessing instruments
Cleaning and bagging reusable tubes, grips and forceps, loading the autoclave and handling spore tests.
Waste, laundry and spills
Closing sharps containers, bagging blood-soaked waste, handling soiled aprons and towels, and cleaning blood spills.
Sharps
Sharps the plan covers for a studio
- Tattoo needles, needle bars and cartridges
- Piercing needles
- Single-use razors for skin prep
- Scalpel and microblading blades
- Reusable instruments with sharp edges or points
In your plan
What your plan covers
Exposure determination
Your artists, piercers and apprentices listed as exposed, your front desk as not, and the tasks that expose a manager or cleaner.
Studio work practices
Single-use needles opened in front of the client, barrier film on machines and cords, ink dispensed into single-use caps, glove changes, no recapping.
Sterilizing and spore testing
Cleaning, bagging and autoclaving reusable instruments, indicators, and the spore-test schedule you choose, with what to do on a failed test.
Sharps and waste
Where your sharps containers are, who picks them up or how you mail them back, and how regulated waste is handled.
Vaccination and exposure follow-up
How hepatitis B vaccine is offered, the declination form, and exactly who to see after a needlestick, with your clinic and its phone number.
Local rules checklist
A short checklist for your body art permit, sterilization log and client records, because county rules apply on top of OSHA.
Pricing
Preview free. $29 once for the whole plan.
Plan and forms
$29one-time
One location, no subscription
- The complete written Exposure Control Plan, about 20 sections, as PDF and as an editable Word file
- Hepatitis B vaccine declination form (Appendix A wording)
- Exposure incident report form
- Training record log
- Sharps injury log
- A short note on your state and local rules
Full refund within 14 days of purchase: email support@gloveplan.com with your receipt. Checkout opens soon: build and preview your plan now.
FAQ
Questions from this kind of business
We are booth renters. Do we need a plan?
The standard protects employees. If an artist is a true independent contractor they are generally not your employee, but if you have even one employee with exposure, including a manager or apprentice you pay, you need a plan. How the working relationship counts is a legal question; ask OSHA or your state if you are unsure.
Does Gloveplan replace my county body art permit rules?
No. Counties and cities license body art facilities and set their own rules. The plan is the OSHA piece, and it includes a checklist so the permit items are not forgotten.
Do I need the sharps injury log?
Only employers who must keep OSHA 300 injury and illness records have to keep one, and many small employers are partly exempt. The log is included and many studios keep it anyway.
Is the plan OSHA-approved?
No. OSHA does not approve, certify or endorse exposure control plans or the tools that produce them. The plan is yours: you adopt it, sign it, adjust it to your workplace and keep it current. Gloveplan fills in a plan from your answers, following the structure of the standard.
My state has its own OSHA plan. Does this still work?
This version is built on the federal standard. States with their own OSHA-approved plans, for example California, Washington, Oregon and Michigan, may add requirements or write the rule differently. Choose your state in the questionnaire and the plan carries a note about it; check your state's rule before you adopt the plan.
Where do my answers go?
They stay in your browser. The questionnaire saves your answers on your own device so you can come back to them, and the plan is made there. Gloveplan's server never receives your business name, staff, address or answers. The page sends anonymous counts of which tool or industry was used, and checks your license key after you buy.
Get the plan done this week
Start the questionnaire and preview your own plan for free.