Complaint Review: VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS

Would you invest in a company that runs its operations and sites this way?

Some conditions in these locations are presented below:

1. The Loading Docks in the buildings (13th Street and Veitch Street) are being used for extensive storage of materials. The condition has deteriorated to the point where the safety and fire hazard possibilities are extreme.

2. The outside plazas of the building have deteriorated over the years where exterior walls and stairways are very hazardous. One stairway had collapsed last year.

3. The Non-Smoking policy in the Building is a complete joke due to many individuals smoking in the Building areas especially during out-of-hours. This is a Fire code matter with Arlington County government (see attached memorandum).

4. The Non-Regulated organizations within the Building operate on their own set of rules to the detriment of the core company residents i.e. Global Networks Inc., Federal Systems. The individuals are abusive to anyone that they view as a encumbrance to their daily lives, which includes security and the cleaning company Mowatt. Numerous instances of even physical abuse by the unregulated people housed in the buildings have occurred and are documented.

5. The safety and medical support needs of the people housed in these buildings is not being adequately addressed. The medical equipment available is insufficient for such needs as heart defibrillation i.e. AED unit, as no such devise is available within the building.

6. Many organizations are operating outside the core company rules as oversight of many of them is limited due to the groups operating remotely from management oversight or extended out-of-hours operations. This causes a problem for the core company residents of the building over the long term. One example of this is the storage of computer equipment in a hallway shared by core and GNI.

The smoking within the building confines is another out-of-hours problem. This is causing unsightly conditions on the areas outside the perimeter of said buildings. In addition, lose of time and productivity because of smoking is completely out of control. May I recommend that consideration be given to a phasing in of a COMPLETE BANE and gradual implementation of a no smoking bane policy by workers (employees and contractors) within Verizon. This will increase productivity and promote a healthy work force.

7. The Securitas Security Contracted unit is largely ignored and left out of the day to day operations. The only use I can see is as a wiping boy for the resident organizations in the North Courthouse Road buildings. Incident reports are written constantly, but nothing changes as the organization has no teeth (regulations without enforcement power are useless). A recent incident of this is the Security Policy dated August 2004 which requires that all non-essential (children and non-work related) individuals be barred from entering the buildings due to liability and productivity issues. This is largely ignored and a continuation of a Good Old Boy policy prevents any real implementation of this security policy.

8. The garage is operated by Colonial Parking as the contractor for the facility and the work force of this contractor leaves much to be desired. The Parking attendants do not show up or go missing when such things as the Lock Out List (Non-Payment of parking) each month occurs. This leaves the guards (Securitas) in the untenable position of having to manage both the duties of a guard and a parking attendant. Reliability of a contracted company is absolutely necessary if operations are not to suffer from their neglect.

9, The Verizon Corporate Security ID unit in the 1320 Building is run with Contracted Personnel from NAI and this Potentially presents a ID theft problem. Contracted Personnel are constantly being hired and let go as the shop is run on a piece part basis (number of ID's produced).

Douglas
Falls Church, Virginia
U.S.A.

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