A lot of people fear that getting a tattoo is not safe because there are slight chances that you can get infected with Hepatitis B or C as well as HIV or Aids. However, the chances of this happening are rather slim. Tattoos in general are very safe, that is if you choose an appropriate facility that has the proper sterilizing and cleaning equipment and follows all recommended safety precautions you should have no worries.
If you are new at tattooing and have no idea what to look for when it comes to making sure your tattoo parlor is clean and follows the proper health code and guidelines, below is a list of important things you should look for or ask to see to ease your mind.
*Make sure you see an the autoclave and sterilization certification if you don't see it ask to see it. The autoclave is the machine that sterilizes the tattoo equipment.
*Make sure they are wearing gloves. Some sort of latex medical glove should be worn to protect the tattoo artist as well as you from any germs or anything else.
*Ask what kind of training your tattoo artist has had and what kind of certificates that have. There really are no tattoo training programs out there but they should have a license or some sort of certificate from whatever state they are practicing in to make it legal.
*Make sure ointment, ink, water and other items should not be returned to a universal container after it has been removed for use on a client. This is for obvious health reasons. Basically anything a tattoo artist uses on your should be thrown out and anything with blood on it should be put in a bio-hazard container.
*Make sure new sterile needles are always removed from an autoclave bag in front of you. This is to make sure the needle is fresh and clean.
