The City of New York Office of the Comptroller
Bureau of Management Audit

Audit Report on the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Oversight of the Correction of Health Code Violations at Restaurants

ME09-074A
July 20, 2009

AUDIT REPORT IN BRIEF

Download the Complete Audit Report (pdf 536 kb)

This audit determined whether the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) had adequate internal controls to ensure that conditions that led to health code violations being issued to restaurants are corrected in a timely manner .  The scope of the audit was Fiscal Year 2008 (July 1, 2007, through June 30, 2008) .

DOHMH is charged with protecting and promoting the health and mental well-being of all City residents  through health-promotion and disease-prevention programs, and through the enforcement of City health regulations.  The  DOHMH Bureau of Food Safety and Community Sanitation (BFSCS) is the unit responsible for enforcing the City Health and Administrative Codes, the State Sanitary Code, and various local laws of the City of New York . 

During Fiscal Year 2008, BFSCS conducted 79,170 inspections in 32 different types of facilities .  For this audit, we reviewed one type of facility—restaurants—for which there were 61,848 (78%) inspections during that period.   According to DOHMH records, BFSCS was responsible for conducting inspections at  25,755 restaurants during Fiscal Year 2008. 

Audit Findings and Conclusions

DOHMH’s internal controls for ensuring that health code violations at restaurants are corrected in a timely manner need to be strengthened.  Follow-up inspections of sampled restaurants were often not conducted in a timely manner; DOHMH did not ensure that all restaurants were inspected annually; and documentation was inadequate on why restaurants that repeatedly failed sanitary inspections were allowed to remain open.  Furthermore, DOHMH did not adequately track its inspectors or supervisors to ensure that inspections were being properly conducted and monitored. 

However, for our sampled restaurants, we determined that the reinspections were conducted by a different inspector than the inspector who conducted the initial visit. In addition, we confirmed that the restaurants in the Golden Apple program, which is aimed at encouraging food safety, were removed from the program if they failed an inspection .

Audit Recommendations

                To address these issues, the audit recommends, among other things, that DOHMH:

• Ensure that all permitted restaurants are given a full sanitary inspection at least once a year in accordance with its procedures.

• Consistently conduct compliance inspections of restaurants in a timely manner.

• Ensure that those restaurants that have failed three or more consecutive regular sanitary inspections or two or more consecutive Accelerated Inspection Program (Program) inspections are reinspected in a timely manner.

• Ensure that reasons for not closing restaurants that fail a minimum of three consecutive regular sanitary inspections or two consecutive Program inspections are documented in the DOHMH tracking system.

• Analyze inspection data to ascertain whether significant variances exist with respect to inspection scores given by inspectors.  If such variances exist, determine the reasons for the variances and, if needed, make modifications (e.g., increase training) to ensure that inspections are performed in a consistent manner.

• Ensure that supervisors conduct supervisory inspections as required to ensure that sanitary inspections are being properly conducted and to minimize the risk of corruption in the inspection process.

Agency Response

In its response, DOHMH officials disputed many of the audit’s findings but agreed or partially agreed with seven of the audit’s recommendations and stated that it would consider implementing the other recommendation.