Spas in many areas are having to protect themselves against legal action by tightening their procedures after a barrage of personal injury claims have been made against them. The National Spa Authority reported a staggering 36% increase in the number of claims in the first 6 months of 2009. The situation has led to an increased depth in the health spa screening process of clientele and more legal protective procedures to be put in place.

The rise in the number of people claiming is considered by many to be caused by the recent incident of a young lady suing for damages after a massage supposedly went wrong.She had suffered from recurring back problems in the past but assured the therapist that they no longer caused her any discomfort. Despite this, after suffering muscle damage from the massage, she successfully sued and is thought to have received a five figure settlement.

Since this incident, the amount of claims being filled has gone through the roof. Whilst the majority have been massage related, spas have also seen a rise in claims related to skin damage, emotional trauma and even sexual harassment.There has been a lot of speculation that for the most part the claims are fraudulent and filled by serial compensation seekers. A number of insurance companies have announced that they will take strong legal action against false claims, but this is still a worrying time for any health spa.

The advice that is being given out to all health spas at the moment is to be very diligent when it comes learning as much about the clients health and history as possible and also to maintain good standards of service. They are advised to source their beauty products from reputable companies, service and check over their equipment as often as possible, and maintain regular high quality treatment training for their therapists.