Corruption Control
It is an unfortunate reality that your place of business may one day be visited by unscrupulous individuals pretending to be employees of the Department of Health & Mental Hygiene and attempting to obtain money from you with promises of service that may include removing outstanding violations from your record, obtaining a permit, renewing an expired permit, clearing outstanding fines or penalties from your record, or delaying future inspections. The Department is also concerned by actions of some operators who may try to prevent the Department's personnel from performing their duties.
For your own benefit and to minimize conflicts and misunderstandings with the Department of Health & Mental Hygiene you need to be aware of the following:
- • Individual owners, partners of a partnership, and officers and directors of a corporation, to which a Department of Heath & Mental Hygiene permit is issued, must comply with the requirements of the Heath Code and are jointly and severally liable for violations of the conditions of the permit or of the Heath Code that are committed by their employees or agents when such acts are committed in the regular course of their business or on their premises subject to the permit, or in the course of using your permit.
- • The Department of Health & Mental Hygiene may inspect any premises, record, matter or thing within its jurisdiction, including but not limited to any premises whose activity is regulated by the New York City Health Code or other laws that the Department has the responsibility to enforce.
- • Public Health Sanitarians (Health Inspectors) while in the performance of their duties are official representatives of the New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene. They are to be permitted access for purposes of inspection at all times while your food service establishment is in operation, whether or not it is open to the public.
- • Health Inspectors carry photo identification and a metal shield. You have every right to demand to see both items and to deny access to your premises if they are not produced.
- • Upon request inspectors must provide you with the telephone number and address of their field office. You may call and confirm that the individual is an employee of the Department and is in fact at your establishment to conduct official business.
- • Refusal of admittance, the directing of verbal abuse towards, interference with or any physical obstruction of an inspector after proper identification is shown, is cause for action by the Commissioner to suspend or revoke your permit and to order your establishment to close.
- • Health Inspectors are not authorized to collect money on behalf of the Department or Board of Health & Mental Hygiene. Any attempt to obtain money from you may represent a criminal offense and should be immediately reported to your local police precinct or the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health & Mental Hygiene at (212) 825-2141.
For more information on Inspections, call 311.
