(a) The inspector shall, if possible, notify the current or acting, on duty and available, department head of the inspector's presence at the department and his intention to conduct a departmental inspection.
(b) During the course of the inspection, any noncompliance with state law or commission rule shall be noted. Violations shall be determined to be either minor or major violations based upon the following guidelines.
  (1) Minor violations shall be defined as those violations which the inspector determines do not pose a serious threat to personnel safety due to lack of personnel protection equipment or training, are not widespread, or are not repeat violations of the same nature for which the entity was cited within the previous five years.
  (2) Major violations shall be defined as those violations which in the inspector's opinion constitute higher potential threat to personnel safety, flagrant or repeated violations in the same or similar areas, fraud, or obvious attempts to circumvent state law or commission rule.
(c) In order to determine compliance with commission requirements pertaining to a particular item, the inspector may examine as many items of protective clothing and equipment deemed necessary by the inspector.

Source Note: The provisions of this §445.7 adopted to be effective November 1, 1998, 23 TexReg 10905; amended to be effective February 26, 2015, 40 TexReg 829; amended to be effective February 24, 2021, 46 TexReg 1251