Governing for Results 13 - Washington State Digital Archives

Department of Labor and Industries
“Show Me the Safe Workplaces!”
The Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act (WISHA) Safety Compliance
program inspects Washington work sites to verify that employers are meeting
their responsibilities under WISHA to ensure the safety and health of their
workers. Compliance officers in Northwest Washington (Region 1) were
conducting insufficient numbers of inspections, limiting the program’s
effectiveness in preventing workplace injury and illness. Further, it was taking
compliance officers too long to write up inspection reports, delaying the issuance
of citations.
The program set two goals:
♦ Conduct 930 inspections (up from 522 the previous year)
♦ Decrease the citation lapse period to less than 30 days (down from 69
days the previous year)
Several strategies were used to achieve the results:
♦ Inspectors were assigned geographic areas to reduce travel time
♦ Inspectors were assigned to specific industries
♦ Clear goals and deadlines for report writing were established
♦ Case documentation and management procedures were streamlined
Results
★ Safety Compliance conducted 867 inspections in 2000, falling short of a goal,
but nevertheless completing 343 more than the previous year for a 66 percent
improvement.
★ Citation lapse time averaged 13 days per case in 2000, an 81 percent
improvement.
★ Inspectors increased the number of inspections completed per month.
★ Inspectors increased the number of violations identified.
Team Name: The Enforcers
Team Members: Harvey Bell, Cameron Fischer, Eric Wiseman, Kim Hodne,
John Kiely, Rick Sutton, Rick Freitas, Mike Naylor, Geri Woods, Mark Mcharg,
Kurt Kaufold, Evelyn Balch, Thyrza Melsby, John Ecker
Contact: John Ecker, (425) 290-1406
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