The International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM) is pleased to announce that they have partnered with The Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC), a Division of ISSA, today to offer the GBAC STAR™ facility accreditation program on cleaning, disinfection, and infectious disease prevention to its members.
Ideal for facilities like offices, restaurants, hotels, airports, convention centers, stadiums, arenas, performing arts centers, and other public assembly venues of all sizes, the GBAC STAR program assesses a facility’s preparedness and provides staff with training for biorisk prevention and containment. The program also establishes a framework for communication and awareness best practices.
“GBAC STAR is the gold standard of safe facilities, providing third-party validation that ensures facilities implement strict protocols for biorisk situations,” said GBAC Executive Director Patricia Olinger. “Accreditation empowers facility owners and managers to assure workers, customers, and key stakeholders that they have proven systems in place to deliver clean and healthy environments that are safe for business.”
GBAC STAR is the industry’s only outbreak prevention, response, and recovery accreditation and establishes requirements to assist facilities with work practices, protocols, procedures, and systems to control risks associated with infectious agents, such as SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19.
“IAVM was searching for resources and external partners to support our members with the recovery process, and ISSA is considered one of the leading trade association for the cleaning industry worldwide,” said Brad Mayne, CVE, IAVM President & CEO. “GBAC is a third-party entity which has a government affairs and regulatory team that works with federal, state, and local regulators and policymakers to ensure that policies and regulations adopted allow the cleaning industry to be successful, while also providing their customers and the public with a cleaner and healthier environment. IAVM’s Events Industry Health & Safety Advisory Council has been working closely with GBAC and
ISSA to provide guidelines and resources regarding deep cleaning, sanitizing, team training and venue certifications to our public assembly industry so that our member venues can safely reopen and recover.”
IAVM’s Events Industry Health & Safety Advisory Council, which is comprised of representatives from all sectors and co-chaired by Frank Poe, Executive Director, Georgia World Congress Center, and Brett Mitchell, CVE, General Manager Overland Park Convention Center, support the use of the GBAC STAR portal by offering additional assistance for those member venues who sign up for certification.
GBAC STAR accreditation criteria and facility applications are now available at www.gbac.org. IAVM members who use the code IAVM2020 while registering in the portal will receive access to the Events Industry Health & Safety Advisory Council members to help guide and assist them with the process.
