SCDES's Division of Radioactive Material Licensing and Compliance is responsible for the licensing and inspection of 400 specific radioactive material licensees and about 400 general licensees and registrants.
Have you been exposed to unnecessary radiation through an X-ray? Have you been injured or burned while using a tanning bed in a tanning salon/service? Have you witnessed unsafe practices or unsanitary conditions at a tanning facility?
You can file a complaint and/or report an injury to SCDES. We will begin the investigative process to determine if the facility is in compliance with state regulations.
Per RHB 1.2.7, hand-held radiographic or fluoroscopic devices are not permitted in the state of South Carolina. Manufacturers may request a review of equipment pursuant to RHB 1.6.3 Equipment Not Covered in Regulation.
Any indoor tanning customers under the age of 18 must have written permission from a parent or legal guardian before they can use your tanning services.
Parents must accompany their child on the child's first visit to your facility and sign the permission statement in the presence of one of your tanning salon operators. The witness shall provide his/her name, signature, title and date on the consent form.
Do not send the permission statement home to be signed and returned.
Determining a client's skin type helps you and your tanning salon operators decide how an individual client's skin will react to UV light. It helps you determine safe exposure times so you can help protect the client from overexposure and other potentially harmful reactions.
Skin type depends on several factors including a person's heritage, natural hair color, eye color, un-tanned skin coloration, and tanning history.
Feel free to use these charts to help figure out a customer's skin type:
You are required to report these changes to SCDES:
S.C. regulations state that you should notify SCDES in writing within 30 days of a change in address, phone number or other contact information. Please indicate the name of the salon and both the old and new contact information in your request. See Contact Us.
If you are planning to open a new indoor tanning salon in South Carolina, you must first register your equipment with SCDES's Bureau of Radiological Health. You must be granted a facility registration number before you begin operating your tanning equipment.
Your facility must:
Before you open a tanning facility or allow customers to use tanning equipment, you must register with the Tanning Program.
There are more than 400 tanning facilities registered in South Carolina.
DHEC regulates tanning facilities to protect customers from poor sanitation and dangerous overexposure to ultraviolet radiation. Overexposure can harm a person's health, causing everything from painful sunburn to a deadly form of skin cancer (malignant melanoma).
