Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Chapter 111 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following eight sections:-

Section 207. For the purposes of sections two hundred and eight to two hundred and fourteen, inclusive, the following words shall, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, have the following meanings:

"Board of health" or "board", the board of health, including the board or officer having like powers and duties in towns where there is no board of health, with jurisdiction in the community in which a tanning facility is located.

"Phototherapy device", equipment that emits ultraviolet radiation and is used by health care professionals in the treatment of disease.

"Tanning device", any equipment used for tanning the skin that emits electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths in the air between two hundred and four hundred nanometers, including, but not limited to, a tanning booth, tanning bed or sunlamp which includes high pressure tanning lamps. Tanning device shall also include any accompanying equipment, including, but not limited to, protective eyewear, timers and handrails.

"Tanning facility", any location, place, area, structure or business which provides access to a tanning device.

Section 208. No access shall be provided to any tanning device by a tanning facility until said facility has been granted a license therefor by the board of health. Each license granted hereunder shall expire one year from the date of its issue. The fee for each such license and annual renewal thereof shall be determined by the board. The board shall inspect each tanning facility within thirty days of licensure and every six months thereafter. A tanning facility which violates the provisions of this section, sections two hundred and nine to two hundred and fourteen, inclusive, or any other applicable law, rule or regulation shall have seven days after written notice of such failure in which to comply with such provisions. The board may revoke the license of a tanning facility which fails to comply after said seven days. Any person aggrieved by a determination of the board pursuant to sections two hundred and seven to two hundred and thirteen, inclusive, may appeal to the department within twenty days of said determination. Any person, including, but not limited to, the board, aggrieved by a determination of the department may appeal said decision pursuant to the provisions of section fourteen of chapter thirty A.

Section 209. A tanning facility shall give each customer a written statement of warning and shall post a notice in a conspicuous place in every area in which a tanning device is used. Said statement or notice shall be at least eight and one-half inches wide by eleven inches long and printed in white on a red background. Said statement and notice shall contain the following information in substantially the following form: `tuc DANGER: ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION.

1. Follow instructions.

2. Avoid too frequent or lengthy exposure. As with natural sunlight, exposure to a sunlamp may cause eye and skin injury and allergic reaction. Repeated exposure may cause chronic damage characterized by wrinkling, dryness, fragility, bruising of the skin and skin cancer.

3. Wear protective eyewear. FAILURE TO USE PROTECTIVE EYEWEAR MAY RESULT IN SEVERE BURNS OR LONG TERM INJURY TO THE EYES.

4. Ultraviolet radiation from sunlamps aggravates the effects of sun. Do not sunbathe before or after exposure to ultraviolet radiation.

5. Abnormal or increased skin sensitivity or burning may be caused by certain foods, cosmetics or medications, including but not limited to, tranquilizers, diuretics, antibiotics, high blood pressure medication, birth control pills and skin creams. Consult a physician before using a sunlamp if you are taking medication, have a history of skin problems, or believe you are especially sensitive to sunlight. Pregnant women or women on birth control pills who use a tanning device may develop discolored skin.

6. IF YOU DO NOT TAN IN THE SUN YOU WILL NOT TAN FROM USE OF THIS DEVICE. Use of a tanning device does not provide substantial protective base against the effects of the sun.

Each time a person uses a tanning facility, or each time a person executes or renews a contract to use a tanning facility such person shall sign a written statement acknowledging that such person has read and understood such warning.

Section 210. A tanning facility shall at all times during operating hours have an operator present who is sufficiently knowledgeable in the correct operation of the tanning devices used at the tanning facility to be able to inform and assist each customer in the proper use of such tanning devices and to provided sanitized protective eyewear and towels. No person shall use a tanning device without such protective eyewear.

A tanning facility shall (i) limit each customer to the maximum exposure established by the department, (ii) control the interior temperature so it does not exceed one hundred degrees Fahrenheit, and (iii) use a timer that has an accuracy of plus or minus ten percent of any selected time interval and check that selected time has not been extended for each customer.

Section 211. No person fourteen years of age to seventeen years of age, inclusive, shall use a tanning device without the prior written consent of a parent or legal guardian who shall indicate therein that such parent or guardian has read and understood the warnings required under the provisions of section two hundred and nine.

No person under fourteen years of age shall use a tanning device unless accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.

Section 212. No tanning facility shall claim or distribute promotional material that claims that use of a tanning device is safe and free from risk. The liability of a tanning facility operator or the manufacturer of a tanning device shall not be affected by the giving of the warnings required by section two hundred and nine.

A tanning facility shall send a written report of any injury or complaint of injury to the board of health with a copy to the complainant or injured person. The board shall retain said report for a period of at least one year from the date of receipt thereof and shall allow public inspection thereof.

Section 213. The board of health, local health agent, or department shall have access at all reasonable times to any tanning facility for the purposes of inspecting said facility.

The department may promulgate rules and regulations necessary for the implementation of sections two hundred and seven to two hundred and fourteen, inclusive, including, but not limited to, the maximum exposure limit for a person using a tanning device which limit shall not exceed the manufacturer's recommended maximum exposure time.

The provisions of sections two hundred and seven to two hundred and fourteen, inclusive, shall not apply to a phototherapy device used by or under the supervision of a licensed physician who is trained in the use of such phototherapy device.

Section 214. Whoever violates any provision of sections two hundred and seven to two hundred and thirteen, inclusive, or any rule or regulation of the department promulgated thereunder shall be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred dollars nor more than two thousand dollars.

SECTION 2. The provisions of this act shall take effect on July first, nineteen hundred and ninety-one.