Understanding the types of violations observed during inspections is a requirement for correctly citing a violation and providing quality feedback to the facility operator. Breakdowns in this chain of communication can lead to additional inspections and possible enforcement actions, which waste valuable time, money, and effort. To ensure that this chain is firm, inspectors are provided with access to training and continuing education, as needed, to properly identify violations and apply their guiding regulations.1
Every inspector starts their career learning the violations for the specific category of facilities that they will inspect, the reasoning behind those violations, and the corrective actions for those violations. They memorize the common section and code numbers for specific citations, and as their experience grows, so do their knowledge and expertise. They undergo progressive training from observing inspections to conducting their own inspections under supervision until they go out on their own.