Introduction:
During the last ten years, several changes have been made towards a stricter and more extensive sunbed regulation in Norway. To examine the extent to which the sunbed establishments fulfilled the new requirements, The Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (DSA) carried out a national inspection campaign in cooperation with the Norwegian municipalities in 2017. In 2022 DSA arranged a follow-up campaign to reveal if the requirements remain fulfilled.
Approach:
In total, 460 establishments were inspected in 2017 and 265 in 2022. Both inspections focused on the same four requirements.
Out of the 265 establishments inspected in 2022, 111 (42%) were also inspected in 2017. In 2017, 59% of these 111 establishments had at least one breach from the four requirements in focus. In 2022, 47% of these establishment had at least one breach from the same requirements. In total, these 111 establishments had 148 breaches in 2017 and 75 in 2022.
One of the requirements checked was whether an age-control system was in place to ensure that minors don´t get access to the sunbeds. In 2017, non-compliance was revealed in 26% of the establishments inspected in both campaigns, whereas 9% in 2022.
Conclusion:
The inspection campaigns show that inspections do lead to a better fulfilment of requirements, but there are still many breaches. Age-control systems are mainly electronic systems that are difficult to inspect, and despite large improvement in compliance with the age-control system requirement, surveys reveal use of sunbeds among minors.