Riverside County Grand Jury • 2009-2010

Riverside County Community Health Agency Department of Environmental Health

9 pages
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Findings and Recommendations 11 findings

F1
DEH Policy No. 16, Department Policies, states in part: "All Department employees are responsible for reviewing and complying with policies." Newly hired staff in the LEA is not consistently being trained according to procedures set forth in DEH Policy No. 708, Staff Training Procedures. This training is mandated by the Riverside County DEH for newly hired employees and also required for existing personnel to ensure their skills remain current
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
for training as specified in Policy No. 708 are followed. DEH supervisors/trainers should maintain training documentation on a
F2
LEA personnel as required by Policy No. 708 are not consistently documenting training conducted.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
database and hard copy file records as required by Policy No. 708, Paragraph XV. "Documentation of Training." DEH supervisors/trainers administer oral and written tests as prescribed in
F3
Trainees are not consistently being administered written and oral tests required by Policy No. 708.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
Policy No. 708. The DEH should develop and the Riverside County Board of Supervisors
F4
The LEA inspects approximately 100 practitioners of tattooing, body piercing and permanent cosmetics annually. The focus of the inspection process is to establish and maintain sterile conditions and safe disposal of instruments. In 1999, Health and Safety Code §119305 authorized counties to adopt regulations to protect consumers and practitioners from transmission of contagious diseases through cross-contamination of instruments and supplies. The Riverside County Board of Supervisors has not adopted ordinances and regulations to implement the legislation.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
should adopt the required ordinances/regulations immediately to protect practitioners and their customers. DEH should then proceed to have cooperating cities adopt the ordinance or enter into other agreements with DEH for inspection services.
F5
The DEH Application for Registration of a Person Engaged in the Business of Tattooing, Body Piercing or Permanent Cosmetics (Attachment 1) does not require practitioners to: Provide proof of successful completion of an LEA approved health a. and safety class that has a curriculum, which contains all the sections of the Hazard Control Plan. b. Establish an Exposure Control Plan. Obtain a facility permit. C. d. Document practitioners' protection against Hepatitis B. Obtain a copy of LEA health standards. e.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
DEH must ensure that potential practitioners complete all requirements of registration, as recommended by the California Conference of Local Health Officers, before LEA issues a Certification of Registration. The Health and Safety Code does not authorize unenforceable Interim
F6
CHA issued Interim Standards in 1999 to be used by Environmental Health Specialists when inspecting tattooing, body piercing and permanent cosmetics operations (Attachment 2). Practitioners sign the form, which commits the signer to comply with these standards. An Advisory Inspection Report is provided to practitioners at the completion of inspections (Attachment 3). Neither the Interim Standards nor Advisory Inspection forms actually contain standards. They merely consist of checklists of subjects that shall apply to a practitioner.
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
Standards to be used in lieu of enforceable regulations with standards. LEA should develop an up-to-date set of standards for use by Environmental Health Specialists. This advisory, if to be continued in use, should be consistent with California
F7
Riverside County Health Services Agency Interim Standards for tattoo and body art practitioners advises: "Practitioners shall not: Apply any tattoo to any person under eighteen (18) years of age except when authorized or directed by a physician." This information is incomplete as stated.
Related Recommendations (1)
R7
Penal Code §653: Tattooing persons under the age of 18. "Every person who tattoos or offers to tattoo a person under the age of 18 years is guilty of a misdemeanor. This section is not intended to apply to any act of a licensed practitioner of the healing arts performed in the course of its practice." Change the body piercing standard to accurately reflect Penal Code §652,
F8
Another incomplete statement in the Interim Standards states that practitioners shall not "Perform body piercing on a person under age of eighteen unless a parent or guardian accompany them."
Related Recommendations (1)
R8
which states "it shall be an infraction if any person performs or offers to perform body piercing upon a person under the age of 18 years, unless the body piercing is performed in the presence of or as directed by a notarized writing by the person's parent or guardian." Ċ,
F9
Written registration information provided to practitioners of tattooing, body piercing and permanent cosmetics establishments does not inform registrants that a person who violates sterilization, sanitation and safety standards shall be subject to a civil penalty of $500 per violation. There are no provisions for the revocation (after due process) and reinstatement of registration.
Related Recommendations (1)
R9
Update the registration forms to completely inform practitioners of all fees and consequences of violations. Institute an appropriate set of investigative standards and impose and collect civil penalties if and when allowed. Riverside County would retain all penalties collected.
F10
Health and Safety Code §119303 required practitioners to pay an annual inspection fee of $105 beginning in January 1999. DEH did not begin collecting the fee until January 2009, ten years later (Attachment 4). DEH's failure to collect these fees from practitioners from 1999 to the end of 2008 deprived the department and county of much needed revenue.
Related Recommendations (1)
R10
DEH should immediately: a) Ensure that all practitioners are registered with DEH and pay the one-time registration fee. b) Provide registrants with applicable department standards. c) Ensure all registrants are inspected annually and pay the cost of the inspection to DEH. Riverside County is authorized to charge an additional amount if necessary to cover the actual cost of registration and inspection. d) Ensure that practitioners who fail to register or violate the sterilization, sanitation and safety standards are subject to a civil penalty of five hundred dollars ($500) per violation, as required by Health and Safety Code §119306.
F11
The 2009-2010 Riverside County Grand Jury requested that DEH provide a list of body art practitioner inspections completed in Riverside County in 2007, 2008 and 2009. The lists received contained some incomplete and clearly erroneous data, such as: Numerous inspections were listed as completed in cities in a) San Bernardino, Orange, San Diego and Los Angeles counties. b) Contrary to testimony from several DEH inspectors and supervisors, inspections were completed in the unincorporated portions of Riverside County. c) It is not clear from the information provided what subsequent actions were taken after inspections disclosed discrepancies such as: "waste disposal" and "sanitation" during routine and follow-up inspections. d) Inspection information was not specific enough to be useful. Entries such as "Riverside", "Riverside Countywide" and "Moreno Valley", etc., were provided instead of exact address and practitioner identification information.
Related Recommendations (1)
R11
Information provided to agencies outside of DEH should be responsive to the information requested with as much accuracy and specificity as possible. Report Issued: 05/05/10 Report Public: 05/07/10 Response Due: 08/03/10 Reg # Office Use Only RIVERSIDE COUNTY COMMUNITY HEALTH AGENCY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH Application for Registration of a Person Engaged in the Business of Tattooing, Body Piercing or Permanent Cosmetics 4080 Lemon Street, 9th Floor • P.O. Box 1280, Riverside, CA 92502-1280 ☐ One-Time Registration: $25.00 ☐ Annual Renewal/Inspection Fee: $105.00 Applicant's Full Name Date of Birth Physical Description: Wt.: Ht.: Eyes: Hair: Personal ID/CDL No.: Exp. Date: Gender: Residential Address: Number, Street Name, Apt. Number, City, Zip. Home Phone" / Cell Phone" Mailing Address (if different from above): Check all Procedures to be performed:

Additional Recommendations 15

These recommendations are not explicitly linked to specific findings.

Comments 1