Pet Grooming Salon Safety Inspection Checklist

Running a safe and compliant pet grooming salon requires meticulous attention to detail—from the integrity of restraint equipment to electrical hazards near water, ventilation for aerosol products, and emergency animal handling protocols. Whether you manage a single grooming station or oversee a multi-stylist salon, keeping on top of safety inspections can be the difference between a trusted business and a costly incident.

This Pet Grooming Salon Safety Inspection Checklist template gives groomers, salon owners, and managers a structured, repeatable way to document safety compliance across all critical areas. Instead of juggling paper checklists or trying to remember every protocol, you can complete inspections on any device, track findings over time, and ensure every shift starts with confidence that your space is safe for animals, staff, and clients.

Why pet grooming salons need digital safety checklists

Pet grooming environments are uniquely challenging. You're working with water, electricity, sharp tools, aerosol products, and animals that may be anxious or unpredictable. Traditional paper checklists get wet, lost, or forgotten in the rush of back-to-back appointments. A digital checklist built in Paperform ensures that:

• Every inspection is documented with timestamps, photos, and staff signatures for full accountability
• Issues are flagged immediately so you can address hazards before they become incidents
• Compliance records are centralised and easy to retrieve for audits, insurance claims, or training
• Teams stay consistent with the same standards applied across all staff and shifts

For grooming salons, mobile clinics, pet spas, and veterinary grooming services, this template helps you maintain a safe, professional environment that protects animals and earns client trust.

What's included in this grooming safety checklist

This template covers the five critical safety zones specific to pet grooming:

Animal restraint equipment integrity: Check grooming loops, table clamps, tethers, muzzles, and harnesses for wear, fraying, or mechanical failure. Ensure restraints are appropriate for the size and temperament of animals being groomed.

Electrical safety near water: Inspect clippers, dryers, and other electrical tools for damaged cords, exposed wiring, or faulty plugs. Verify that outlets near tubs and wash stations are GFCI-protected and that extension cords are kept away from water.

Ventilation for aerosol products: Confirm that grooming areas have adequate ventilation or exhaust fans to disperse fumes from sprays, flea treatments, and disinfectants. Check that air filters are clean and that aerosol products are stored safely away from heat sources.

Emergency animal handling protocols: Review staff readiness for bite incidents, seizures, heatstroke, and escape situations. Ensure emergency contact lists (for vets and owners) are up to date, first aid kits are stocked, and staff know how to safely restrain a panicked animal.

Disinfection procedures: Audit cleaning schedules for grooming tables, tubs, tools, and floors. Verify that EPA-registered disinfectants are being used correctly and that high-touch surfaces are sanitised between appointments to prevent cross-contamination.

Each section uses a mix of yes/no checklists, photo uploads for documentation, and text fields for notes or corrective actions, giving you a complete picture of your salon's safety status after every inspection.

How Paperform makes grooming safety inspections faster and smarter

Paperform's flexible form builder lets you customise this checklist to match your salon's exact setup—add or remove inspection items, adjust question types, or include your own grooming protocols and brand guidelines. The doc-style editor makes it easy to add headings, images, or instructional text inline, so your team knows exactly what to check and why.

Inspections can be completed on a phone or tablet right at the grooming station, with photo uploads to document issues like frayed restraint straps or water pooling near outlets. You can set up conditional logic to show follow-up questions only when a safety concern is flagged, keeping the form fast and relevant. And because Paperform captures timestamps and inspector names automatically, you have a clear audit trail for every inspection.

Close the loop with Stepper automation

Once an inspection is submitted, you can use Stepper (your AI-native workflow builder) to automatically route high-priority issues to the right people. For example:

• If electrical hazards are flagged, send an urgent Slack alert to your facilities manager and create a maintenance ticket
• If restraint equipment fails inspection, notify your lead groomer and block the affected station from the booking calendar
• If ventilation issues are detected, trigger a work order to your HVAC vendor and log the issue in your compliance spreadsheet

Stepper keeps your safety workflows moving without manual follow-up, so nothing slips through the cracks between inspection and resolution.

Built for pet groomers, stylists, and salon owners

This template is designed for:

• Pet grooming salons and spas conducting daily or weekly safety inspections
• Mobile grooming services documenting vehicle and portable equipment safety
• Veterinary clinics with grooming departments maintaining compliance alongside clinical standards
• Pet daycare and boarding facilities offering grooming services as part of their care
• Franchise grooming chains rolling out standardised safety protocols across multiple locations

Whether you're a solo groomer doing your own compliance checks or a multi-location operation with dedicated safety managers, this checklist scales to fit your team.

Compliance, reporting, and continuous improvement

All inspection submissions are stored securely in Paperform, giving you a searchable, exportable database of every safety check. You can integrate with Google Sheets, Airtable, or your grooming management software to keep records synced, and use Paperform's AI Insights to spot trends—like recurring electrical issues or equipment that's frequently flagged—so you can invest in fixes before they become bigger problems.

For salons that need to demonstrate compliance to insurers, local councils, or franchisors, you can generate reports on demand, filtered by date, inspector, or issue type. And because Paperform is SOC 2 Type II compliant, you can trust that your safety data is handled securely.

Get started in minutes

This template is ready to use out of the box, or you can tweak it to match your salon's specific safety standards, local regulations, and equipment. Add your logo, adjust the checklist items, and share the form link with your grooming team—on desktop, tablet, or mobile. With Paperform, you're not just ticking boxes; you're building a culture of safety that protects the animals in your care, supports your staff, and keeps your business running smoothly.

Trusted by pet care professionals, groomers, and salon owners who take safety seriously, this template helps you stay compliant, confident, and ready for anything.