OECD Regulatory Enforcement and Inspections Toolkit

Criterion 11. Professionalism

Inspectors should be trained and managed to ensure professionalism, integrity, consistency and transparency: this requires substantial training focusing not only on technical but also on generic inspection skills, and official guidelines for inspectors to help ensure consistency and fairness.

Key questions:

• Is the profession of “inspector”1 defined as such, with a combination of technical (field-specific) skills and “core” competencies linked to risk management, compliance promotion etc.? Is professionalism the foundation for risk-based discretion?

• Is training for inspection and enforcement staff conducted both upon recruitment, and on-the-job throughout their career, to ensure both up-to-date knowledge and adequate methods?

• Are competency of staff members, and overall capacity of the organisations they work in, regularly assessed? And are efforts made to continuously enhance them?

Sub-criterion 11.1. The profession of “inspector” is defined as such, with a combination of technical (field-specific) skills and “core” competencies linked to risk management, compliance promotion etc. Professionalism is the foundation for risk-based discretion

Inspecting and enforcing regulations is a profession, which is distinct from that of being a technical specialist (of specific environmental or health issues, for instance). While it requires technical knowledge and skills, they are but a part of what is needed. Defining the profession of inspector as one distinct from that of technical specialist is an important element, and with it goes the need to delineate what competences are needed for inspectors: understanding and managing risks, communicating and advising, promoting and supporting compliance, investigating etc. Only professional inspectors, with a full understanding of their mission and of the tools that can be used to fulfil it (and of their limitations) can adequately exercise discretion. Such a framework for the inspection profession should be officially stated, and form the basis for recruitment practices, job descriptions, training, professional assessments and performance evaluation for staff.

• Evidence: official document(s) defining the role of inspectors, the core elements required in terms of professional qualification

Sub-criterion 11.2. Training for inspection and enforcement staff is conducted both upon recruitment, and on-the-job throughout their career, to ensure both up-to-date knowledge and adequate methods

Based on the professional framework described above, training needs to be developed and conducted for inspection staff, both initially (before or after recruitment) and during their career. Initial training can be done in a university context (with specific courses) or outside of it, and there are a variety of approaches that can be taken for on the job training. What is crucial is to ensure that inspectors receive both the adequate technical training (and regular “refreshers”) but also training on their function and how to best exercise it (and updates on new findings, methods etc. during their career).

• Evidence: official document(s) on training, including curriculum – annual reports

Sub-criterion 11.3. Competency of staff members, and overall capacity of the organisations they work in, are regularly assessed – and efforts are made to continuously enhance them

Requiring competencies and providing training is insufficient without regular assessment. This should be used to identify gaps and needs, and achieve improvements. Thus, assessments should be made not only of individual capacities (self-assessment and performance evaluation), but also of the capacity of entire inspection services.

• Evidence: official procedures and tools for assessment, annual reports (for follow up)

Note

← 1. The name can change from country to country.