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Contact Us
Division of Personnel Security and Access Control (DPSAC),
Office of Research Services
Building 31, Room 1B03
Hours: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Monday - Friday
Personnel Security
Helpdesk: 301-402-9755
E-mail: orspersonnelsecurity@
mail.nih.gov
Access Control
Helpdesk: 301-451-4766
E-mail: facilityaccesscontrol@
mail.nih.gov
 
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Advanced Accompanied Visitor Pass (AAVP) Requests Now Handled 100% Online
On the heels of the DPSAC News spotlight on Accompanied Visitors in the June 8, 2016 issue, the NIH police activated a new and better web-based Advanced Accompanied Visitor Pass (AAVP) application process as part of its new Pre-Cleared Visitor Program (PCVP) designed to help employees facilitate campus access for their guests.
Two or more business days before the guest's arrival, an NIH employee/sponsor can fill out the appropriate request with the guest's information. The information is then forwarded to the NIH Police, who will review the request and provide the appropriate pass if everything is in order.
With the new system in place, NIH employees who want to request an AAVP on behalf of an incoming visitor will now complete the appropriate NIH Police form posted on the NIH Security website as a fillable pdf. Upon completing the form, the employee/sponsor will electronically submit it to the NIH Police/Guard service to administer a name check on the visitor against an FBI database.
Once the NIH Police are in receipt of a successful name check, they will e-mail an approval along with a Visitor Pass that the employee/sponsor will print out to present to the guard or police when s/he accompanies the visitor at one of the staffed entrances.
For the AAVP, the NIH requires the employee/sponsor requesting the pass to accompany the guest at the point of entry.
Further description and the process for requesting a pass within the PCVP is posted on the NIH Security website: http://security.nih.gov/Pages/Home.aspx.
Video Spells Out New Streamlined Process for Obtaining an AAVP
To assist NIH employees who plan to serve as visitor sponsors (n.b., only NIH employees can sponsor a visitor to the NIH campus), the NIH Police, in collaboration with the HSPD-12 Program Office, developed a brief video that walks the viewer through the new streamlined AAVP application and issuance process for requesting an AAVP.
This video is posted on the NIH security website as 'Instructional Video' at: http://cm.security.nih.gov/Pages/PCVP.aspx.
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Sponsorship Role Restricted to Individuals with Administrative Officer Access to NED
The HSPD-12 Program regularly receives signed PIV Sponsor Training certificates submitted by well-meaning Administrative Technicians requesting authority to serve as a PIV Sponsor.
Unfortunately, the HSPD-12 Program office must inform these individuals that they are not eligible to become sponsors since ONLY individuals with an Administrative Officer role in NED can qualify as an HHS ID Badge/PIV Card Sponsor.
The training section of the DPSAC website defines a Sponsor as "the Administrative Officer or equivalent at the NIH who substantiates the need for an HHS ID Badge to be issued to the Applicant. The Sponsor requests the issuance of an HHS ID Badge to the Applicant."
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FAQs
Q. The July 6, 2016 DPSAC News article, "Pre-Screening Overview for New Federal Employees: What is Required for a Final Offer Letter to be Sent Out " appeared to focus on FTEs and not on non-FTEs (IRTA, Special Volunteers and Guest Researchers) and Contractors. What is the policy and procedures for pre-screening and issuing ID badges to personnel who fall into these classifications?
A. To get an HHS ID Badge/PIV Card, all applicants, including those you listed, must do two things:
1. Be identity proofed, photographed and fingerprinted (i.e., Enrolled), with their fingerprints sent to the FBI and returned as "clean or cleared", AND
2. Complete accurately and completely e-QIP and any attachments and submit/release them to DPSAC so that the Case Review Team can review their submission and release their packet to OPM.
BOTH MUST OCCUR TO GET A BADGE!
It is the act of releasing e-QIP and any attachments to OPM combined with clean fingerprints that allows for an HHS ID Badge/PIV Card to be issued.
Note: all foreign nationals must go through the Division of International Services (DIS) to validate they are in the country legally and are permitted to work at NIH, i.e., not on a tourist or educational visa.
Q. If a Contractor is converting to an FTE, should I be advising the AO to wait until the expected EOD date before reclassifying the person to avoid having his/her Contractor badge cut off?
A. The "Contractor" badge (green stripe) is still good and live until the person picks up his/her HHS ID Badge (presumably at EOD).
Q. I've heard from several Administrative Officers (AOs) who seem to have lost the NED Portal Sponsor role for no apparent reason. Does the Sponsor role need to be renewed each year?
A. No. The NED Portal Sponsor role does not need to be renewed. Once granted, the role should remain with a person unless they change ICs, convert to a non-FTE, or someone revokes their AO role. That said, NED has a known defect that results in revocation of an AO's Sponsor role when someone modifies the AO's SAC coverage. According to the NED team, if this happens the affected NED Portal user should submit a request to the NIH IT Service Desk to have NED Support restore the Sponsor role.
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Paper Fingerprint Cards: A Tool of Last Resort 
This article first appeared in the July 6, 2016 DPSAC News
As part of the pre-screening processes at NIH, new hires (FTEs) must be fingerprinted to conduct a criminal history check. While DPSAC strongly urges individuals to use an NIH or HHS Enrollment Station to provide electronic fingerprints, they understand that at times this is simply not possible due to logistical considerations.*
In these rare instances, DPSAC advises individuals to start the pre-screening process by getting ink fingerprinted at a local Police Department and mailing the paper fingerprint cards to DPSAC. DPSAC in turn can submit the fingerprints to OPM to conduct the required check.
Using a paper fingerprint card may be unavoidable for some applicants who can't reach an NIH or HHS enrollment facility due to geographic limitations. While submitting paper fingerprints is not ideal, doing so will allow OHR to expedite the onboarding process for the new hire and will save those individuals who are unable to access an NIH or HHS enrollment office valuable time in obtaining a PIV Card when they arrive at their NIH duty station.
Recently DPSAC has fielded several inquiries from Administrative Officers (AOs) asking whether individuals who have submitted paper fingerprint cards and have completed their e-QIP questionnaires need to take further action to be issued a PIV Card.
In a word, yes! Fingerprint cards can be used to conduct the required criminal history check as part of the pre-screening process, but the cards cannot be used as part of the process to receive a PIV card. Individuals still need to get enrolled (i.e., identity proofed, photographed and fingerprinted with an electronic fingerprint reader) at an NIH Enrollment Station when they arrive at NIH. This is because the PIV card stores electronically-captured fingerprints and the photo on the smart chip embedded in the ID badge.
Why Bother with Paper Fingerprint Cards?
Individuals who can access an NIH or HHS Enrollment Office should not be using paper fingerprint cards. Enrolling at an NIH or HHS Enrollment office not only saves the applicant time with the onboarding process, but also speeds up the badging process. Once the new hire has completed the enrollment process, he or she should be able to obtain his or her new PIV Card on their Entry on Duty (EOD) day.
Remember: No Enrollment = No PIV Card (HHS ID Badge)
* To learn more about the pre-screening process at NIH, please see the article "Pre-Screening Overview for New Federal Employees" that ran in
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Helpful Tips
All Building 31 badging services - Enrollment, Badge Issuance and Customer Service -- now offered at a single, convenient location in 1B03. All badging services in Building 31 are available between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. DPSAC will continue to offer Enrollment and Badging services in the South Lobby of the Clinical Center from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays.
AOs who wish to obtain sponsor authority -- must complete the sponsor training (see: http://www.ors.od.nih.gov/ser/dpsac/Training/Pages/administrators.aspx) and e-mail a copy of your signed certificate to the NIH HSPD-12 Program Office at [email protected]. Upon receipt of the certificate, the Program Office will authorize the AO as a Sponsor. Please note: ONLY individuals with Administrative Officer access to NED are eligible to be an HHS ID Badge/PIV Card Sponsor. ICs that want to add Lifecycle Work Station (LWS) operators to the approved roster -- send a written request to Richie Taffet at: [email protected]. Your request should include: * the new operator's name
* his/her IC
* his/her NED number
* the operator's e-mail address, building/room and phone number
Once Mr. Taffet has approved the request, he will forward the name(s) to [email protected] to complete the approval process, add the name(s) to the LWS operator roster, and inform the IC that the individual is now approved to operate the LWS. Need to make changes to the LWS operator directories? -- drop an e-mail to Lanny Newman, [email protected], and let him know what needs changing (e.g., adding new operators or LWS locations, removing operators, etc.). Remember, before a new operator can be added to the LWS directory, s/he must first be approved by Richie Taffet (see preceding Helpful Tip). If an LWS is not available in your IC or your immediate area, and you work in the greater Bethesda or Rockville area -- please call 301-402-9755 to schedule an appointment with the Division of Personnel Security and Access Control located in Building 31, Room 1B03 or in Building 10, South Lobby, Room 1C52. If you work outside the Bethesda/Rockville area, contact your local badge issuance office. You can find contact information for all badge issuance offices at: http://www.ors.od.nih.gov/ser/dpsac/Pages/contactinfo.aspx. Know someone who should be reading DPSAC News? -- have the person contact Lanny Newman, [email protected], and ask to be put on the mailing list.
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Safety Corner
Laboratory Fire Safety Features
The following fire safety awareness article was prepared by the Division of the Fire Marshal, ORS, NIH.
Almost daily at the NIH, one can walk through any of the laboratory buildings and find a research laboratory under renovation. Cosmetic features such as new cabinets, counter tops, lighting and paint are easy to spot.
What often goes unnoticed, however, are the fire safety features provided as a part of the same renovation project. The following describes some of the common fire safety features which may be present in your laboratory and how they afford protection to you and your research should a fire emergency occur.
Fire Doors
The corridor door used to enter the laboratory is a "fire door." It is equipped with a closing mechanism and hardware that latches. Fire doors are designed to remain in the closed position at all times. Should a fire occur in a laboratory, a closed corridor fire door will help contain the fire and smoke to the laboratory and still allow you and your co-workers to exit the area safely.
Flammable Liquid Storage Cabinets
In all laboratory renovations, at least one flammable liquid storage cabinet is provided in each laboratory work area. Additional cabinets can be added to accommodate larger quantities of flammables that may be used. These cabinets are typically constructed of heavy gauge steel, labeled or identified as flammable liquid storage cabinets, designed with a raised sill to contain any spills within the cabinet and have a three-point latch to keep the doors to the cabinet closed.
Automatic Sprinklers
In new NIH buildings, all laboratories are provided with automatic sprinklers. Older laboratory buildings are being retrofitted with sprinklers as renovations occur. Sprinkler system piping is either painted red or has red bands.
If a fire emergency occurs in the laboratory, only the individual sprinkler heads, which reach their activation temperature (typically between 135 degrees and 165 degrees Fahrenheit), will deliver water to the fire. When a sprinkler head activates, the NIH Fire Department is notified through the building fire alarm system that a "sprinkler water flow" is occurring.
In the past, laboratory fires have occurred in NIH buildings with complete sprinkler systems and were controlled by only one or two sprinkler heads.
Property damage was minimal and research activities resumed the following day. To make sure the sprinklers are able to operate effectively in a fire emergency, it is important to keep all items at least 18 inches below them to allow proper water distribution.
Heat Detectors
Heat detectors are small, round, ceiling-mounted devices that detect either rapid temperature increases or sustained high temperatures in the laboratory.
Should one of these two conditions occur, the NIH Fire Department will be notified through the building fire alarm system that a potential fire emergency is in progress. Only laboratories which do not have automatic sprinkler protection are provided with heat detectors.
Through renovations, all heat detectors will eventually be replaced with automatic sprinklers, which act as heat detectors and deliver water to control or extinguish a fire before it has a chance to grow and cause more damage.
If you have questions regarding Laboratory Fire Safety features, please contact the Division of the Fire Marshal, Office of Research Services at 301-496-0487.
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News Briefs
Increased Police Patrols and Inspections of Common Areas Begin July 1 on NIH Campus
Below are excerpts of an ORS notice sent to the NIH workforce via the 'ORS Information Line' on June 29, 2016 and published in the June 8, 2016 DPSAC News.
Beginning July 1, 2016 you will see increased police presence around the NIH campus. NIH police and associated K-9 units will be more visible to the NIH community with increased patrols and inspections of common areas of campus, such as vehicles in parking lots and multi-level parking garages as well as buildings common spaces such as a building's atrium.
The security measures are being put in place to comply with the Department of Homeland Security Interagency Security Committee's ( https://www.dhs.gov/interagency-security-committee) 2016 edition of "Physical Security Criteria for Federal Facilities." These changes should not interfere with normal operations. For more information and answers to your questions about security procedures on the NIH campus, please visit the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) posted on the NIH Security website at: http://www.security.nih.gov/FAQ/Pages/default.aspx.
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NED Training Schedule
New and relatively inexperienced NED Portal users with an Administrative Officer (AO) or Administrative Technician (AT) role are invited to take advantage of one of the hands-on NED training classes being offered (once a month) through the end of fiscal year 2016. Each class will provide an overview of the NED Portal and the NIH business functions it supports from the perspective of a NED Portal user with the AO or AT role. Upon completing the course, students will have a solid working knowledge of the NED Portal and be able to perform the following tasks: Register/Activate, Update, Modify, Transfer, Badge Renewal and Deactivate. The course will also familiarize students with other aspects of the NED Portal so they can set their primary SAC coverage using 'Preferences,' determine the status of a person's ID badge and/or network account request, look up and view information in a person's NED record and utilize NED reporting capabilities.
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A biweekly e-newsletter from the Office of Research Services, Division of Personnel Security and Access Control (ORS/DPSAC) to keep you informed as NIH rolls out "Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12" (HSPD-12) establishing a common identification standard to better safeguard NIH and its workforce.
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