With extensive training, a serious attitude towards implementing safety measures, and a wealth of knowledge dating back to our origin in 1997. Blue Banana makes every effort to ensure your piercing experience is positive and successful. There’s a reason people come back to us time and time again! Here is an insight into the training process and other procedures carried out by Blue Banana to ensure we are running the best Piercing Studios in the UK.

Blue Banana Piercer Safety and Training

Blue Banana carries out between about 150,000 piercings every single year. We are registered and monitored by the Local Health Authorities (along with our piercers) and have annual inspections of our premises and training. We have been running successfully since 1999 and have worked with the health authorities to ensure we have the best practices, studio design, sterilisation, and training.

Different areas require different safety procedures. Here are some of the methods we use:

  • Single Use Items: All our bench covers, gloves, and needles are single use. We use new sterile items that are disposed of after each customer or use. 
  • Piercing Jewellery: The jewellery used for piercing is new titanium or plasma gold on titanium which is sterilised in a hospital-grade autoclave before use. 
  • Piercing Equipment: All clamps and equipment are cleaned and sterilised to ensure client safety. 
  • Piercing Studio: All our studios are cleaned to a high standard every day and all our procedures are designed to ensure minimum risk to our clients. Cleanliness and the safety of our customers are top priority and this is impressed upon all piercing staff. 
  • Ongoing Safety: All our Piercing Studios undergo comprehensive Infection Control Audits (developed using Infection Prevention Society audit tools) at regular periodic intervals, covering all piercing best and essential practices.

Comprehensive Training Procedure

All piercers who work for Blue Banana have to be with the company for at least three months before they are put forward for piercing training. Trainees are then expected to learn the basic theory of piercing from our (60 page) manual and are tested on their knowledge, before participating in one week’s intensive hands-on training from a Senior Piercer with experience of at least 10,000 piercings.

After intensive training our piercing trainees are mentored by a qualified Piercer and train in-store, completing an average of 6. piercings within their first week. If they meet the standards required and demonstrate a clear understanding of the principles of infection control, the anatomy of piercing, sterilisation methods, and customer care then they are permitted to perform common piercings such as ears, lips, and noses.

After 6 months of ongoing review, supervision, and experience with at least 500 piercings they are assessed. If appropriate the trainee is then allowed to perform the more unusual or delicate piercings including genital or microdermal. This lengthy training process ensures no piercer will perform any piercing until we are confident they are skilled enough and aware of health and safety procedures.

As you can see, our piercers go through an extensive training period including training on health and safety. Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that you will never experience a problem with your piercing as individual factors such as your body’s healing ability come into play but it does mean your piercing will be taking place in a sterile environment by a qualified piercer so your piercing will have the best chance of healing successfully. Problems with piercings are rarer than you may think.

Piercing Issue Misconceptions

With regards to problem piercings and issues with piercings that may occur, it is important to remember a few things. Firstly, piercing is an imprecise science and everybody’s body is slightly different. As such people may react in different ways to the piercing, procedure, and jewellery. Piercing rejection is an unfortunate reality of body modification.

Secondly, with about 150,000 piercings completed in the UK every year by Blue Banana it is very important to understand the real scale of problem piercings, how rare and sometimes small the problems with them are and how few the numbers of people affected. It is statistically highly unlikely that you will have a bad experience.

Finally, the large majority of piercings carried out in the UK that later develop problems or issues are usually caused by incorrect aftercare and client treatment afterward. In order to try and reduce this, we have taken active measures to ensure we provide verbal and written aftercare advice to all our clients and customers, especially accompanying guardians or parents, so they understand the importance of looking after their piercing.

Whilst we are responsible for the wellbeing, safety, and cleanliness of piercings in store, we cannot be held responsible for issues caused by customer negligence and incorrect aftercare. If you feel you’re lacking all the right information you need, please consult our piercers for advice. They are happy to answer all questions in regards to aftercare tips.

At Blue Banana, Customer Wellbeing & Safety Is Of Utmost Importance. In Summary:

  • All Our Piercing Studios Are Registered With Local Health Authorities 
  • All Piercing Equipment Is Sterilised And One Time Use Only 
  • All Our piercing Studios Undergo Periodic Infection Control Audits 
  • Piercers Are Required To Undergo Thorough Training Of Up To 6 Months 
  • Customer Health & Safety Is Of Great Importance To Our Staff 
  • We Provide Aftercare Tips & Advice To All Clients After Their Piercing

We currently have comprehensive articles on our website that detail everything a customer or piercing fan needs to know about our stores, training, and products. This includes piercing types, aftercare, and issues related to body modification.

Licensing For Piercing Studios

The licensing for piercing studios requires us to meet certain conditions to gain permission to legally sell piercings. This is in place to help customers identify which studios are reputable and which should be avoided.

Laws were imposed for the protection of the customer as body piercing is typically permanent in nature and constitutes a significant decision on the part of the customer. Until lately the laws on licensing for piercing studios were ambiguous at best and left the customer confused.

When looking at licensing for piercing studios, rules and regulations need to be met. The aim of this is to ensure that members of the public are kept safe. Piercing laws also determine what age a person must be in order to legally have a body piercing, this is especially relevant to intimate piercings. Those who are underage need consent from their parents or legal guardians for certain piercing procedures (excluding intimate piercings which can only be done when a person is of the legal age). For detailed information about piercing regulations please see our Piercing Laws article, here.

Blue Banana always aims to ensure the customer feels comfortable and is not feeling rushed through the piercing procedure. Your piercer will take the time to answer any questions you have and explain any part of the piercing procedure or aftercare. We take pride in caring for our customers and our piercers are always happy to answer questions whether you are thinking about getting a piercing, have come to the store to have a piercing, or need advice on aftercare. They are also available to help you change your piercing jewellery (for a standard charge), advise you on retiring a piercing, or assess a piercing that is rejecting or migrating. If you would like to learn more about piercing for yourself, then you can access our blogs and information pages on our website.

Please Note: Blue Banana piercing information is based on knowledge from our experiences as one of the UK's top piercing studios. All details provided should be read alongside professional advice. Please see our full Piercing Articles Disclaimer, here.