Governing for Results 13 - Washington State Digital Archives

Department of Labor and Industries
Inspection Report Timeline
Under authority of the Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act (WISHA),
Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) compliance officers conduct work site
inspections to verify that employers are ensuring the safety and health of their
workers as required. Once an inspection is completed, the officer must write a
report and submit it to Central Office to be processed and issued. In Region 6
(Spokane), the lapse in time between the completion of the inspection and the
writing of the report was averaging 69 days.
Inspectors, striving to achieve goals for the number of inspections conducted,
were beginning new inspections before previous ones were written up, thus
accumulating growing backlogs of uncompleted inspections.
To reduce the lapsed time between completed inspections and written reports,
supervisors began tracking completed reports, and requiring inspectors with
more than three unfinished reports to complete those reports before new
inspections are initiated.
Additionally, new work unit protocols were implemented to discourage staff from
interrupting inspectors who are writing reports. Inspectors also receive coaching
on report writing.
Results
★ Elapsed time from inspection to writing and entering the report into the
computerized tracking system has been reduced from 69 days to 11 days.
★ Report writing skills have improved, resulting in more defensible legal reports.
★ With report writing skills improving, the time required to write the report is
decreasing.
★ Employers now receive written reports within two weeks of the completed
inspection, compared to the 8 to 9 weeks previously.
Team Name: Region 6 WISHA Compliance
Team Members: Will Skuse (Team Lead), Mark Aguiar, Tom Anselmo, Steve
Belnap, Steve Brooks, Deborah Haigh, Joe Luce, Garry Newbry
CONTACT: Will Skuse, (509) 324-2544
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