The SIGNAL is a willful (the employer knew and ignored) or repeat OSHA violation — the strongest enforcement markers. An OSHA citation is a contestable public enforcement record (often under appeal or in negotiation): "cited", never "guilty" or "negligent". Ordinary inspections and serious/other violations are not surfaced (high-severity only). Fatality/catastrophe events are a later addition. Source: DOL OSHA enforcement data.

The SIGNAL is a formal EPA enforcement action (a penalty-bearing action under the Clean Air / Clean Water / RCRA statutes) or significant non-compliance — the strongest enforcement markers. An enforcement record is a contestable public fact (often settled or under appeal): "subject to a formal action", never "guilty" or "polluter". Ordinary inspections and informal actions are not surfaced (high-severity only). Source: EPA ECHO.

The SIGNAL is a Class I recall (FDA's most serious class — a reasonable probability that use will cause serious adverse health consequences or death) or a still-ongoing recall. A recall is a contestable public safety action, often firm-initiated: "subject to a Class I recall on record", never "dangerous" or "unsafe". Lower-class, resolved recalls are not surfaced (high-severity only). Source: openFDA enforcement.

Federal dependency = the total obligated value of the entity's observed federal awards (the sum of award-level obligations, not annual revenue). SAM eligibility (registration status, exclusion) is what flags risk — a lapse or exclusion means the entity cannot receive NEW federal awards. A period-over-period award-flow signal is deliberately not shown here: on award-summary data it keys off each award's START date and reads as lumpy, so a trustworthy flow needs transaction-level obligations (a later addition). Descriptive of the public record — not a company default. What this data cannot say. It records exposure, never performance: the Treasury states that a change in a recipient's risk profile — including a complete default on a federal loan — will generally not be reflected, and neither will forgiveness. An obligation is money committed, not money drawn: $5M obligated may be $2M disbursed, and disbursement data is not public. Reporting runs 30 to 90 days behind and many agencies file quarterly, so nothing here is current. Coverage begins FY2001 but quality improves markedly from FY2017 with full DATA Act implementation; figures spanning earlier years are weaker. Sources: USAspending awards · SAM.gov Entity Management.