Measure 6.1.1A Description

Monitor and improve inspection activities.

Purpose and Significance:

The purpose of this measure is to assess the health department’s standardized approach to implement inspection activities. Monitoring inspection activities ensures protocols are consistently and effectively applied to contain or mitigate health hazards and problems.

Inspection activities of regulated entities reviewed to ensure that:

A. Regular and complaint investigations are performed in accordance with protocols.

B. Inspections are performed according to defined frequency

*The health department will provide both a description of the method for the review and the findings from the review for at least one enforcement program/area.*

*If the health department is not mandated to perform inspections, required element a must describe the review process related to how the health department communicates about complaints to entities with enforcement authority. No additional documentation is needed for required element b.*

Type:

Report (narrative description is acceptable)

Dated Within:

5 Years

Guidance:

The intent of this requirement is to show that the health department has a process to review inspection activities (including both those that are the result of complaints and those that are conducted on a routine basis) to ensure they are carried out according to protocols.

Required Elements:

A. Regular and complaint investigations are performed in accordance with protocols.

Element A Guidance:

The health department could describe, for example, how it reviews investigation reports to see that they follow the steps in the protocols (e.g., initiating investigations by logging concerns or complaints received, conducting initial investigations with reports of findings, or generating communications to regulated entities of what is needed to achieve compliance). The approach could include, for example, an audit of a random sample of investigation reports.

If the health department is not mandated to perform inspections, the narrative or report could include, for example, how it ensures that complaints received by health department staff are handed off with appropriate timeliness to enforcement agencies.

B. Inspections are performed according to defined frequency.

Element B Guidance:

The narrative or report could include, for example, how the health department confirms that investigations of regulated entities (e.g., food service establishments, drinking water, septic systems, recreational water places, hotels, motels, body art facilities, camps, schools, daycare, or smoke-free ordinances) are carried out in the frequency defined by law or its algorithms. In addition to describing how the review happens, the documentation will include findings from that review (e.g., the proportion of investigations that are carried out in the appropriate timeframe).