GSA’s open floor plan workplace at its headquarters—which the agency touts as a model for other agencies to follow—leaves personal and office items more vulnerable to theft, an IG report has found.
The GSA system eliminated traditional office doors and cubicles in favor of a desk and conference room reservation system with few permanent desk assignments. Instead of offices or office suites with lockable doors, the plan features personal lockers and locking file cabinets.
The report found vulnerability to theft of sensitive personal information, contract files, employee background investigations, travel vouchers, performance appraisals and other documents. Some of those were left on desks in plain sight, while others were in secured cabinets whose keys were stowed in open personal drawers or in a locker whose combination was taped to the door.
Among the “highly pilferable” unsecured items either left out in the open or in unlocked closets were laptops and other valuable electronics, along with costly supplies such as toner cartridges. An employee who came to claim a laptop that had been taken away by the inspectors as a precaution said that both his personal possessions and the laptop would not fit in his assigned locker, so he decided to store the personal items—several pairs of shoes—in the locker and leave the laptop sitting on top.
The report recommended that GSA managers better enforce policies and procedures for the safeguarding of personally identifiable information, other sensitive information, and personal property; routinely monitor for security compliance by both employees and contractors; and assess the adequacy of secure storage space available to meet employee and contractor needs. GSA leadership agreed.
The report is here: http://www.gsaig.gov/?LinkServID=09423DBA-F94B-CCBC-401F5212F5965689&showMeta=0