n IG report issued last year for example found some 32,000 failed attempts to use access cards at 132 buildings over two years. Image: Mark Gomez/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe inspector general’s office at the GSA has listed safety and security of federal buildings as among the agency’s top management challenges, saying the Public Buildings Service arm of the agency faces “significant” challenges in both areas.
“GSA’s management of building safety measures is critical to protect GSA employees, contractors, and building tenants from fire, safety, and health risks. It is also critical to protect federal property from damage or loss. However, our recent audits have found that PBS continues to face significant challenges to meet and manage its responsibilities for providing a safe work environment at federally owned and leased facilities,” says the IG’s latest semiannual report.
It cited for example a report from early this year saying the PBS had not set consistent expectations for federal law enforcement agencies in space it owns or leases. Findings included that detainees were transported through unsecure public areas; that seized drugs were stored in vaults that lacked proper ventilation; and fire and safety risks from the storage of ammunition, in part because PBS building managers did not even know where some of it was stored.
The latest report similarly said that while GSA plays a significant role in providing secure federal facilities, “Recent audits have found problems with GSA’s monitoring and enforcement of its security protocols. The deficiencies identified in our reports on PBS’s lack of monitoring and oversight of key security requirements and protocols, coupled with our previous reports on security at GSA facilities, demonstrate that physical security remains a challenge for GSA.”
An IG report issued last year for example found some 32,000 failed attempts to use access cards at 132 buildings over two years, saying that could be an indication of attempted unauthorized access to federal facilities and secured areas—but said the GSA is not actively using data from card readers to identify and assess risks to federal employees and property.
GAO also has raised issues regarding building safety and security in recent reports, as have IG offices of some individual agencies occupying GSA-controlled space.
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