‘The responsibilities of the office now embrace a widé field. It coordinates weapons research, development, production and storage operations; participates in technical studies and procurement planning on an AEC basis; participates in the planning of technical program objectives; develops production schedules, coordinates and reports progress thereon; provides information for and directs compilation of budgets for ‘the entire weapons program; controls and supervises accountability for stockpiled weapons components, source and fissionable materials; and other critical items. The organization includes: Director's office; Budget and Administrative Branch; SF Materials Audit Branch; Planning division, including a Development Engineering Branch and a Production Planning Branch; Operations division, including a Manufacturing Operations Branch with an Inspection section and a Storage Operations Branch; and Contracts Administration division. In 1952, the Contracts Administration division was added to plan, direct, and coordinate for the Office of Production Coordination the negotiation and administration of prime operating contracts in the development and production fields. A major task was the selection of the operating contractor for the projected Spoon River Plant. a The Inspection section of the Manufacturing Branch was also added to perform the function of performing final acceptance inspection of explosive and mechanical components manufactured or assembled at DOD installations. Two members of the section are now tou stationed at Picatinny Arsenal, and three at Inyokern. Necessary reorganization of the Planning division was also made during the period, including the establishment of the Production Planning Branch. 21. , SAFETY AND FIRE PROTECTION Safety and fire protection in 1947 was criticized by a Commission Advisory Board, which concluded that the wartime policy of close direct supervision must be modified to emphasize and apply the principle of contractor responsibility for safety and health, encourage contractor initiative, provide incentive, and give maximum freedom to those showing the best operating conditions and results. The Board recommended, in effect, that SF OO provide staff leadership to insure development of adequate contractor programs. Subsequent industrial safety and health activity has conformed with the recommended ap- proach. By June 30, 1950, SFOO was able to report that the attitude of contractor manage- bce meena ments, referred to by the Board as "fair to poor", had become "good to excellent" and that accident rate trends were downward. The Advisory Board Chairman re-surveyed SFO during August 1952. ALGO... to the General Manager that: "Managementattitude, and safety organization and personnel, seemed excellent; tremendous improvementin five years; practically all items criticized in the 1948 report seem to have been remedied." A staff of 17 directly supervised SFO safety as of July 1, 1947. The activity consisted essentially of contruction safety inspection and vehicle driver training and testing, de — all at Los Alamos. The organization had no industrial safety nor fire protection engineer. = " 136 131