Sunshine Week: State records can provide local insight

TENNESSEE — Sunshine Week is regarded as a time each year to emphasize the importance of public records and open government.This year's Sunshine Week is coming to a close, as it ran from March 16 through March 22, but the need for government transparency never ends.In Tennessee, there are several departments and agencies that keep open records available online for public access. While this is not a comprehensive list, below are some examples of resources that shed light on valuable public information.Health inspectionsThe Tennessee Department of Health keeps up-to-date online records of health inspections conducted across the state. This data can be filtered by date range, inspection purpose and/or county.For example, if you wanted to see the most recent inspections conducted in Sullivan County, you would change the search county to 'Sullivan' and a list starting with the most recent ones would pop up.This online data allows you to gain insight on the establishment's health inspection score and grade, as well as any observation or corrective actions. The original inspection PDF is also attached to the online version.To view this data, visit https://inspections.myhealthdepartment.com/tennessee.Environmental dataThe Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation has several data viewers available online to the public. Some of them include:• Department Enforcement Database• Air Pollution Control Permits & Inspections Data Viewer• Division of Water Resources Data ViewerFor the Department Enforcement Database, viewers can find enforcement action documentation shared by TDEC in the "Orders and Cases" tab of the page. Other associated documents, including other means of communication related to the enforcement actions, can be found under the "Documents" tab.In the Air Pollution Control Permits & Inspection Data Viewer, visitors can look at inspection reports, permit records, air quality-related complaints and other TDEC correspondence related to air quality. The Division of Water Resources Data Viewer lists similar information, but for water quality-related information.View this data and other TDEC records through https://www.tn.gov/environment/about-tdec/tdec-dataviewers.html.Work health and safetyTennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration, along with other OSHA records, can be viewed online. This includes a company's inspection history, safety standards violations or penalties assessed.Viewers can search based on establishment name, state, OSHA office, zip code, inspection data and more. OSHA Offices covering the Tri-Cities would include the Tennessee OSHA Gray Office for both health and safety.Results will show when the case was opened, the type of inspection, its scope, the establishment's name and if any violations were found.To access this database, visit https://www.tn.gov/workforce/employees/safety-health/tosha-redirect/search-establishment-inspections.html.Transparent TennesseeThe state also offers a "Transparent Tennessee" webpage, which allows users to search the state's expenditures, the salary of state employees, and learn more about the state budget.To view this data, visit https://www.tn.gov/transparenttn/state-financial-overview.html.