I am constantly amazed when critical infrastructure in the data center work is not audited. Domenic Alcaro's talk at 7x24 about submarine maintenance and ideas that apply to the data center, the inspection and auditing of work is standard procedure.
SJ Mercury news discusses the situation PG&E has found when they audited their inspectors.
PG&E fires four inspectors
Posted: 09/01/2011 02:07:48 PM PDTUpdated: 09/01/2011 02:54:21 PM PDT
PG&E has fired four inspectors after an internal investigation determined they falsely claimed to have inspected the company's underground electrical gear, and four others were disciplined.
The probe, which PG&E launched in November after receiving an employee's tip about the phony inspections, was first disclosed publicly in June. Over the past two months, the company reinspected nearly 25,000 underground enclosures containing various electrical equipment and found 25 where inspectors had falsely claimed to have inspected them, according to PG&E spokesman Andrew Souvall.
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"In the four instances where employees were terminated, we found substantial evidence that they had not properly conducted their inspections and had falsified records," Souvall said.
Some of my friends and I have been thinking about how to solve this type of problem in the data center, and we are circulating the solution to some early adopters.