Emery R J, Charlton M A, Mathis J L
University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center, Environmental Health & Safety, 77054, USA.
Health Phys. 2000 May;78(5 Suppl):S40-7. doi: 10.1097/00004032-200005001-00002.
Routine regulatory inspections provide a valuable independent quality assurance review of radiation protection programs that ultimately serves to improve overall program performance. But when an item of non-compliance is noted, regardless of its significance or severity the ensuing notice of violation (NOV) results in an added cost to both the permit holder and the regulatory authority. Such added costs may be tangible, in the form of added work to process and resolve the NOV, or intangible, in the form of damage to organizational reputation or worker morale. If the portion of the tangible costs incurred by a regulatory agency for issuing NOVs could be quantified, the analysis could aid in the identification of agency resources that might be dedicated to other areas such as prevention. Ideally, any prevention activities would reduce the overall number of NOVs issued without impacting the routine inspection process. In this study, the administrative costs of NOV issuance and resolution was estimated by obtaining data from the professional staff of the Texas Department of Health, Bureau of Radiation Control (TDH-BRC). Based a focus group model, the data indicate that approximately $106,000 in TDH-BRC personnel resources were expended to process and resolve the 6,800 NOVs issued in Texas during 1997 inspection activities. The study's findings imply that an incremental decrease in the number of NOVs issued would result in corresponding savings of agency resources. Suggested prevention activities that might be financed through any resource savings include the dissemination of common violation data to permit holders or training for improving correspondence with regulatory agencies. The significance of this exercise is that any savings experienced by an agency could enhance permittee compliance without impacting the routine inspection process.
常规监管检查为辐射防护计划提供了宝贵的独立质量保证审查，最终有助于提高整个计划的绩效。但是，当发现不符合项时，无论其重要性或严重性如何，随之而来的违规通知（NOV）都会给许可证持有者和监管机构带来额外成本。此类额外成本可能是有形的，表现为处理和解决违规通知所需的额外工作，也可能是无形的，表现为对组织声誉或员工士气的损害。如果能够量化监管机构因发布违规通知而产生的部分有形成本，该分析将有助于确定可用于其他领域（如预防）的机构资源。理想情况下，任何预防活动都将减少发布的违规通知总数，同时不影响常规检查流程。在本研究中，通过从德克萨斯州卫生部辐射控制局（TDH-BRC）的专业人员那里获取数据，估算了发布和解决违规通知的行政成本。基于焦点小组模型，数据表明，在1997年的检查活动中，TDH-BRC花费了约106,000美元的人员资源来处理和解决在德克萨斯州发布的6,800份违规通知。该研究结果表明，发布的违规通知数量的逐步减少将相应节省机构资源。建议通过节省的任何资源资助的预防活动包括向许可证持有者传播常见违规数据或开展培训以改善与监管机构的沟通。这项工作的意义在于，机构所实现的任何节省都可以提高被许可方的合规性，而不影响常规检查流程。
