Who's inspecting the inspectors?

Part 50 in a series by Karen A. Stevenson, President, Studio K Salon

One of my acquaintances in the beauty business recently was on television.  Sadly, it wasn’t an interview on ‘who she is”, rather, it was a revealing ten seconds on the low score she received in her nail salon.  Scores for salons are called ‘Sanitation scores”.

State Board of Cosmetology inspectors, no different than hair salons, inspect nail salons.  These inspectors show up randomly, whether it be once a year, or five times a year, and rate the salon on it’s cleanliness, and non-salon related items.  For instance, hair salons must have hand soap available near the bathroom sink, there must be no hair in the cabinet drawers, and the lids on the bottles of facial waxing area must be closed.  Certainly there should be no hair in the hairbrush that is in the drawer, and not a single hair in the clipper guards. 

Nail salons have similar requirements, no nail dust in their drawers, disposable nail files must not be re-used, and all lids closed.  Frankly, nail dust, as well as pieces of hair becomes impossible to keep under control when that is what is the nature of the business.

Restaurants are also exposure targets on local news.  Their scores are reported along with what circumstances were identified by an inspector for such things as an open employee drink in the Kitchen, or a canister of flour inappropriately stored.

Ironically, inspectors for State Board are very inconsistent.  Salon owners experience State Board Inspectors doing anything from walking into the salon pacing up and down the isle for a moment, saying “Hello” to the designers, breezing through without opening a single drawer, socializing with a customer or two, then marking off the salon with a wonderful gracious high score, all the way to an inspector gliding in without being noticed and immediately opening drawers and barbicide jars.  They’ve analyzed everything possible, prior to their final stop at the front desk and delivering a detailed report of every single item, whether positive or negative.

So, my question is, who is inspecting the inspectors?  Why have nail salons as well as restaurants become target of the local news, especially if the inspections are so random and inconsistent?

Reality television, as well as news bites are rather frustrating.  Why stop at exposing these two subjects?  Why don’t we expose lawyers that are corrupt, CPA’s that are cheating on their income taxes, and who inspects then?  Hotels?  Are Hotel’s even inspected?   Sure, we’ve seen shows like 20/20 where they have a black light in the hotel rooms and we see all the filth and unmentionable leftover residual from guests in the rooms, but are hotels even rated with their mattress cleanliness and blanket sanitation?  That seems somehow worse to me than nail dust in a drawer.

What about Grocery Stores and their deli’s and meat departments?  Do they have equal exposure on the local news? 

I’ve always wondered, since we seem to be exposing accountability or the lack thereof, at 5 o’clock , what about exposing therapists or family psychologists?  Shouldn’t we be watching them with hidden video camera’s to see if they have the Brady Bunch family home life to be sure they are living out what they are preaching?  Do dog trainers always have the most well-mannered canines? 

I’d love to see pet hotels and kennels rated and exposed.  If there is to be exposure, why aren’t we witnessing the scores of where our precious companions are being lodged?  Are pet hotels even rated?  How about spot inspections with child care facilities?  Are we exposing them on the news on a daily or weekly basis?  I am also curious if the tanning beds are truly sanitized and clean? 

Exposure seems to be something everyone is getting more addicted to, since reality television is so popular, but it doesn’t seem to be as accurate as we’d like to believe, nor does it seem to be exposing the overall truth, just a moment of a perception depending on the inspector’s mood, day, and time constraints. 

What about quality of clothing?  I’ve purchased high dollar clothing in the past, that somehow was made poorly, and yet, no one rated that particular shirt’s score so I know if it was made with a quality of a one, or of a ten?   Is my peanut butter going to be rated on the label in the future for the cleanliness of the facility that crushed the peanuts?  How do I know if there is or is not rodent hair in my peanut butter? 

Are automobile repair shops inspected?  Do they share equal exposure on the 5 o’clock news? I’ve always been interested in repair shops that may be replacing parts with low quality or used parts.   I’ve personally have been to get my own car inspected in the past, and experienced anything from someone barely checking out my automobile and giving me my inspection sticker, to a place running my car through the mill. 

How about the subject of schools being inspected?  Our precious children, those little human beings that we love and cherish, will be running our country in the future as we become older.  Are our schools being exposed on the media on a daily basis to let us know if teachers are conducting true quality education, equality in the classrooms, mentally healthy communication, fairness to all students, and integrity in conversation?  Are they even inspected in the first place?  Are they being exposed?

I find it extremely interesting how we’ve targeted certain consumer subjects, causing exposure harm for small little non-harming violations like nail dust in a drawer, when there is so much other lack of integrity going unnoticed that would certainly cause more damage in our lives.