Perry County Health Department
BODY ART (TATTOO AND BODY PIERCING)
The body art rules were created to establish minimum standards, applicable throughout Ohio, for the operation and maintenance of body art facilities to protect the public from injury, minimize the potential for disease transmission, and provide a safe and healthy environment.
Body art in Ohio is regulated under the authority of Chapter 3730.01 of the Ohio Revised Code (ORC) and Chapter 3701-9 of the Ohio Administrative Code (OAC).
- The body art program [Body Art Application] is administered here locally by the Perry County Health Department.
- Registered Environmental Health Specialists with our department are required to review, approve, and inspect all body art facilities, operations, and events located in Perry County.
- If you own or operate a body art facility, have plans to do so, or have any questions, you may contact The Perry County Health Department for assistance.
(Ohio Administrative Code 3701-9-01: Definitions below)
"Body art" means the practice of physical body adornment, including tattooing, permanent cosmetics and/or body piercing. This definition does not include practices that are considered medical procedures by the state medical board, performed with medical devices, that include but are not limited to biopsy or dermal punches and scalpels.
"Body artist" means an individual, including an operator, who performs one or more of the following procedures:
- Tattooing;
- Permanent cosmetics;
- Body piercing.
"Tattoo" means any method utilizing needles or other industry specific instruments by someone other than a physician licensed under Chapter 4731. of the Revised Code, to permanently place designs, letters, scrolls, figures, symbols or any other marks upon or under the skin of a person with ink, dye, pigment or any other substance resulting in an alteration of the appearance of the skin. This definition does not include practices that are considered medical procedures by the state medical board, performed with medical devices that include, but are not limited to, biopsy or dermal punches and scalpels.
"Body piercing" means the piercing of any part of the body by someone, other than a physician licensed under Chapter 4731. of the Revised Code, who utilizes a needle or other industry specific instrument for the purpose of inserting an object into the body for non-medical purposes; body piercing includes ear piercing except when the ear piercing procedure is performed on the earlobe with an ear piercing gun. Body piercing also includes surface anchors and surface piercing. This definition does not include practices that are considered medical procedures by the state medical board, performed with medical devices that include, but are not limited to, biopsy or dermal punches and scalpels.