Health department inspection results tend to be lenient in most jurisdictions, where a majority of restaurants receive high marks. Because the Hazel Score ranks facilities on a distribution, restaurants that receive high health department scores can still score lower with the Hazel Score based on their performance relative to their jurisdiction.
For example, there are many cases where health departments assign a perfect grade and no violations to a large percentage of their inspections. In these jurisdictions, even one minor violation can result in a low Hazel Score since the Hazel Score approximates percentile performance within the jurisdiction. If the facility is in a jurisdiction that rarely cites violations for facilities, any slight infraction can bring down a Hazel Score significantly.