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Wall-to-wall inventory starts today at Laboratory

Interim Laboratory Director Pete Nanos said in a Jan. 6 all-employee meeting that the Lab would soon begin inventorying all controlled personal property. Property administrators will be the primary points of contacts for Laboratory organizations.

"I cannot emphasize strongly enough the importance of completing this project successfully and credibly," said Richard Marquez, associate director for administration.

As part of the wall-to-wall inventory, property administrators will go to all accessible labs, office space and storage areas, closets, desks and bookcases as well as outside areas to look for and scan barcoded property subject to inventory. An outside area could include storage buildings containing property in storage for future use.

BUS-6 has established a schedule that calls for one-quarter of the wall-to-wall inventory to be completed by March 31 and a 50-percent-completion rate by April 30, said Allen Wallace of BUS-6. In addition, BUS-6 will give twice-a-month update reports on the progress of the wall-to-wall inventory to Laboratory senior managers.

BUS-6 has created a Web page with more information about the wall-to-wall inventory. It can be found at the Wall-to Wall Inventory page online. The Web page includes a list of frequently asked questions related to the wall-to-wall inventory, as well as contact information.

Wallace said there are several important reminders all Lab workers should keep in mind as the wall-to-wall inventory begins:

• Safety comes first for everyone. Property administrators and employees should adhere to all safety practices throughout the inventory period.
• Property administrators will be in touch with Lab workers to arrange scheduling, especially for restricted or hard-to-access areas.
• Property administrators will be tagging inventoried items with a fluorescent-yellow sticky dot to show that the property has been touched.
• Lab personnel who have barcode-numbered property at home for official use or when on travel will be required to bring it in to their property administrators on a mutually acceptable day to have it scanned. Exceptions may be granted in special circumstances with proper approval from the project leader.
• For Laboratory property on loan or furnished under contract to an external organization, an affidavit will be required affirming that the external organization is in possession of the Laboratory property.

Wallace noted that University of California and Department of Energy auditors will conduct an independent validation, most likely a physical inspection of a random sample, to confirm the integrity of the inventory.

"Lab workers should be particularly diligent to keep track of their property, because it could be randomly selected next fall for validation," said Wallace. "It is crucial that the validation team locate all property."

"This is an institutional effort involving every Laboratory worker. If we all support this wall-to-wall inventory and cooperate with property administrators and inventory personnel we feel that we will be successful," said John Tapia of BUS-6 and the project leader for the wall-to-wall inventory.

Tapia added that group leaders should be actively involved in the wall-to-wall inventory. "In order for this effort to be successful the group leaders need to be actively engaged," he said.

The Laboratory last conducted a wall-to-wall inventory of all barcoded property in 1998; that inventory met the UC and DOE standards, Tapia said.

Lab workers who have questions about the wall-to-wall inventory can contact their property administrator, or the BUS-6 Property help line at 5-3230 or write to lanlproperty@lanlgov by electronic mail.

For more information, see the Jan. 14 master management from Marquez.

-- Steve Sandoval

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