IG Will Inspect Program Used to Account for Associates During Disasters

By Yvette Baptiste
Office of the Inspector General

The Exchange’s Office of Inspector General will conduct inspections in February of the personnel accountability program, used by headquarters to locate associates after disasters strike.

The Department of Defense-mandated program is intended to prepare DoD components to report the status of personnel after disasters, such as floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, earthquakes, large-scale terrorist attacks, etc.

For the personnel accountability program to run smoothly, managers, supervisors and associates, regardless of where they work at the Exchange, must review and update key information, such as addresses, phone numbers, emails, and emergency points of contact, on the Employee Self Service site. This will help speed up accountability after a natural disaster.

Tom Ockenfels, the Executive Group’s vice president for administration, is designated as the personnel accountability program manager. The HR Directorate assists with gathering data.

If an emergency or disaster occurs, the DoD or the Exchange director/CEO may direct Ockenfels to account for Exchange personnel using the Personnel Accountability Reporting System, a central repository used by all DoD agencies.

The program manager or HR will send general managers in the affected areas a list of associates. The GMs, or designated managers, will personally account for associates by contacting them to ensure they are safe.

They will then report the status and whereabouts of all associates to headquarters in Dallas.

At the field level, general managers or their designees are responsible for personnel accountability. Managers must ensure they have up-to-date contact information for their associates. Associates bear the responsibility to share the new information and understand the need to report to their managers after a disaster.

Yvette Baptiste is an Exchange assistant inspector general.