Embassy Hanoi and Consulate General Ho Chi Minh - OIG - US ...

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED
GENERAL SERVICES
The general services office (GSO) provides good services to the embassy as
evidenced by the scores on the OIG’s workplace and quality of life questionnaires
and comments received. General services operations in Hanoi are led by an experienced
supervisory general services officer who is supported by an assistant GSO,
two EFMs a facilities maintenance manager, two assistants, and a maintenance
technician, plus 22 LES. In Ho Chi Minh City, a first tour GSO supervises one
facilities maintenance manager and 18 LES. Scores in virtually all areas of GSO
operations were well above average.
Measurable improvements have been made in both locations. The morale of
the staff in Hanoi has rebounded with the departure of the former supervisory
GSO. Controls over procurement operations have been strengthened, as well as
controls over both expendable and nonexpendable property. The controls over
both expendable and nonexpendable property were virtually nonexistent in Hanoi
until 2002 (seven years after the embassy opened for business) when the first
physical inventory was attempted. The results were not good, and variances far
exceeded acceptable norms. Implementation of required procedures resulted in the
current physical inventory being accurate and variances within acceptable norms.
Controls over nonexpendable supplies, as discussed in the management controls
section, require strengthening.
SAFETY
The Department’s safety, health, and environmental management program is
codified in a number of laws and regulations and formally spelled out in 6 FAM
610. The goal of a safe working environment appears to receive sufficient management
attention, and those charged with implementing the program carry out their
duties on a regular and continuing basis. Assessment of the program’s elements
was straightforward and carried out in the course of interviews and review of
program documentation.
The facilities maintenance specialist, acting in his capacity as post occupational
safety and health officer, along with his assistant, were in the final stages of conducting
annual office safety inspections. The inspection results, documented on
their inspection sheets, indicated that all areas of the embassy were reviewed and
that all elements of a good safety programs, to include hazards associated with fire,
chemicals, noise, equipment, and maintenance activities, were attended to. Fur­
44 . OIG Report No. ISP-I-05-28A, Inspection of Embassy Hanoi and CG Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, September 2005
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED