Safe Salon on Call

Well, even though the salons have opened now, with hygiene & safety protocols in place, the fear of getting infected still remains.

What did Urban Clap, now Urban Company, do to address this fear? It retooled its SOPs to make available the same pre-pandemic range of services, albeit with an emphasis on hygiene and safety right at your doorstep. Here is a glimpse of how.

Interestingly, the millennials today open an app at least 50+ times in a day with amazing 2.8 million apps at their disposal. Urban Company, the service professional which operate on a single app with varied services, including hair-do, have allotted assignments to professionals based on their experience and ratings, to visit homes for different requirements.

As individual, we have become wary about whom to allow into our homes, and would rather forgo or postpone non-emergency services than risk allowing the virus to enter the home on the coat-tails of a stranger. But over half a year of lockdown has exhausted our collective resolve, and we are inching back to normal — the microwave needs repair, pest control is an absolute must and months-long growth of unruly locks necessitate a haircut, preferably within the safe confines of one’s own home.

So how does Urban Company convince customers that their method of operating is rigorously low-risk? By implementing the provisions of Project Kavach, a list of safety protocols adhered to by every associated service professional.

Daily temperature checks

An Urban Company spokesperson said: “Every service partner has been equipped with a thermometer. Every day, he or she has to measure his or her temperature and upload a photo of the recording on our partner app, which verifies the value by image processing”. At least 5% of all temperature recordings are also verified manually.

Anyone registering a temperature over 99°F is asked to stay home and consult a doctor. The partner is allowed to return to work only after a minimum of three successive days of running a normal temperature or the recommended duration of rest prescribed by empanelled doctors. Urban Company has partnered with a tele-medicine company to make medical advice available to its service providers for free.

Personal Protective Equipment

Over 27,000 individual service professionals registered with Urban Clap have been provided with safety kits. Each person is supplied with a three-ply surgical mask, protective sterile gloves, hand sanitizers and disinfectant strays. Those who provide services in which physical distancing is not possible — such as hairdressers — are additionally kitted out with a face-shield. Gloves are mandatory even during massages and facials.

Sanitization of tools and single-use sachets

All tools are sanitized before, during and after use, right in front of the customer, to reassure him or her that all safety precautions are being taken. Only single-use sachets and disposables from reputed brands are used for beauty services, wherever resumed.

Service personnel make sure to sanitise their area of work, and high-touch surfaces like doorknobs before leaving. According to the spokesperson, “a spray-based disinfectant and standard company-issued wiping cloth is used”.

Health and safety training

Urban Company has launched a mandatory 7-day virtual training and certification program to help service providers protect themselves at their places of work, and elsewhere as well.

Suraksha holidays

To provide sustenance and income for any partner who needs to self-quarantine, if running a temperature or so advised by a medical practitioner, Urban Company provides a weekly income grant of INR 2,000. Over and above this, insurance cover is available for any partner who is Covid-positive, covering any hospitalization expenses and a per-day allowance.

Aarogya Setu app

Partners are required to show their current status on the app before entering a customer’s home. At the time of booking, customers too are advised to wear masks and maintain distance from the service provider whenever possible.

Containment zone tracking

In-house technology ensures that no service requests are taken from people residing within containment zones, and that partners residing in containment zones are not allocated any jobs either, until the containment zone status is changed.

Contactless service experience in repair and maintenance services

Across all repair and maintenance services like appliance repair, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, disinfection, cleaning, painting and pest control services, partners are trained to adopt contactless protocols during the service delivery.

Covid innovations

The spokesperson said, “We have reinvented how we provide salon services. Earlier, during threading, the thread would be held in the teeth of the service provider. Now, they are trained to wrap it around cotton padding around the neck. We have also introduced low-contact, roll-on waxing.”

Whenever someone books a service provider, it is made clear that the professional will cater to just one person. So, if there are ten people in the house, they will need to make ten bookings. This prevents cross-transmission and crowding too.

Blurb 1

The partner is allowed to return to work only after a minimum of three successive days of running a normal temperature or the recommended duration of rest prescribed by empanelled doctors.

Blurb 2

Earlier, during threading, the thread would be held in the
teeth of the service provider. Now, they are trained to wrap it around cotton padding around the neck.