The Global Biorisk Advisory Council® (GBAC), a Division of ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association, has announced that 50 more facilities have achieved GBAC STAR™ Facility Accreditation this week. The Hyatt House WPG South in Winnipeg, Man. is among the hotels, stadiums, and other locations that can now display the coveted GBAC STAR accreditation seal to give visitors and employees added assurance about their health and safety protocols.

GBAC STAR is an industry accreditation focused on ensuring a clean, safe, and healthy environment in public and commercial facilities of all sizes. The program outlines best practices, protocols, and procedures to control risk factors associated with infectious disease, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19. GBAC STAR accreditation means that accredits both venues’ cleaning, disinfection, and infectious disease prevention programs implement best practices to prepare for, respond to and recover from outbreaks and pandemics like COVID-19.

“While a facility may look and smell clean, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the space has been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected,” said GBAC Executive Director Patricia Olinger. “The GBAC STAR accreditation process helps facilities learn the proper cleaning, disinfection, and infection prevention processes so they can carry these out on a daily basis.”

GBAC STAR is performance-based and was developed by experts who have spent their careers focusing on creating protocols for facilities to reduce risk during outbreaks. All current and upcoming accreditations are searchable via the GBAC STAR Facility Directory, making it incredibly easy for the public to understand which facilities are dedicated to the new standard of clean.

The following properties have achieved GBAC STAR accreditation, the gold standard of prepared facilities:

Arena

• The Forum in Inglewood, Calif.

Commercial Office

• EFS Facility Management in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Convention Centres

• Lynnwood Convention Center in Lynnwood, Wash.
• Minneapolis Convention Center in Minneapolis

Hotels

• Alila Solo in Jakarta, Indonesia
• Andaz Seoul Gangnam in Seoul, South Korea
• El Capitan Hotel in Merced, Calif.
• Emerald Maldives Resort in Fasmendhoo Island, Maldives
• Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach in Palm Beach, Fla.
• Grand Hyatt Doha Hotel & Villas in Doha, Qatar
• Grand Hyatt Macau in Macau
• Grand Hyatt Shanghai in Shanghai
• Hampton Inn Odessa Trinity in Odessa, Fla.
• Hotel De Anza, San Jose, Calif.
• Hyatt Centric MG Road Bangalore in Karnataka, India
• Hyatt Centric Victoria Harbour Hong Kong in Hong Kong
• Hyatt House WPG South in Winnipeg, Manitoba
• Hyatt Place Augusta in Augusta, Ga.
• Hyatt Place Boston/Seaport District in Boston
• Hyatt Place Calgary Airport in Calgary, Alberta
• Hyatt Place College Station in College Station, Texas
• Hyatt Place Dallas-North/by the Galleria in Dallas
• Hyatt Place Flint/Grand Blanc in Flint, Mich.
• Hyatt Place Jacksonville Airport in Jacksonville, Fla.
• Hyatt Place New York/Yonkers in Yonkers, N.Y.
• Hyatt Place Orlando/Convention Center in Orlando, Fla.
• Hyatt Place Rogers/Bentonville in Rogers, Ark.
• Hyatt Regency Aurora – Denver Conference Center in Denver
• Hyatt Regency Baltimore Inner Harbor in Baltimore
• Hyatt Regency Dubai Creek Heights in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• Hyatt Regency Greenville in Greenville, S.C.
• Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa in San Antonio
• Hyatt Regency Indianapolis in Indianapolis
• Hyatt Regency Istanbul Ataköy in Istanbul
• Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront in Jacksonville, Fla.
• Hyatt Regency Jersey City on the Hudson in Jersey City, New Jersey
• Hyatt Regency Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles
• Hyatt Regency Merida in Yucatan, Mexico
• Hyatt Regency Shenzhen Yantian in Guangdong, China
• Hyatt Regency Qingdao in Qingdao, China
• Hyatt Regency Wuhan Optics Valley in Wuhan, China
• Miraval Austin Resort and Spa in Austin, Texas
• Park Hyatt Chicago in Chicago
• Park Hyatt Saigon in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
• Park Hyatt Siem Reap in Siem Reap, Cambodia
• The Chesterfield Palm Beach, a Small Luxury Hotels of the World member property, in Palm Beach, Fla.
• The Eliza Jane in New Orleans
• Thompson Playa del Carmen, Playa del Carmen, Mexico
• Thompson Seattle in Seattle

Industrial/Manufacturing

• The Point Distillery in New Port Richey, Fla.

“With each new addition to the list of accredited locations, we are taking yet another step in the right direction to make facilities safer during these uncertain times,” said ISSA Executive Director John Barrett. “Meanwhile, the GBAC STAR Facility Directory tracks all pending and confirmed accreditations to keep consumers updated on places that are responsibly responding to today’s infectious disease threats.”

Apply for GBAC STAR facility accreditation at gbac.org/star. Track which facilities have earned or plan to earn accreditation with the GBAC STAR Facility Directory.

About GBAC, a Division of ISSA

Composed of international leaders in the field of microbial-pathogenic threat analysis, mitigation, response and recovery, the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC), a Division of ISSA, provides training, guidance, accreditation, certification, crisis management assistance and leadership to government, commercial and private entities looking to mitigate, quickly address and/or recover from biological threats and real-time crises. The organization’s services include biorisk management program assessment and training, Forensic Restoration® response and remediation, the GBAC STAR™ facility accreditation program, training and certification of individuals and consulting for building owners and facility managers. For more information, visit www.gbac.org.

About ISSA

With more than 9,300 members—including distributors, manufacturers, manufacturer representatives, wholesalers, building service contractors, in-house service providers, residential cleaners and associated service members—ISSA is the world’s leading trade association for the cleaning industry. The association is committed to changing the way the world views cleaning by providing its members with the business tools they need to promote cleaning as an investment in human health, the environment and an improved bottom line. Headquartered in Northbrook, Ill., USA, the association has regional offices in Mainz, Germany; Whitby, Canada; Parramatta, Australia; Seoul, South Korea; and Shanghai, China. For more information about ISSA, visit http://www.issa.com.

About MediaEdge Communications

For more than 25 years, MediaEdge has been at the forefront of communication solutions for organizations within a variety of business sectors. MediaEdge is a leading provider of non-dues revenues for associations offering exceptional no-cost member benefits through a number of innovative products and services. Find out more by visiting www.mediaedge.ca.

MediaEdge is a proud reseller of the GBAC STAR and GBAC fundamentals online course. Please see the program details and links below and remember to use the promo codes when registering as they provide discounts.

1. Commercial facility owners looking for GBAC STAR accreditation can follow the link here and use the promo code “MediaEdgeGS”
2. ISSA has also released a new GBAC fundamentals online course specifically designed for cleaning workers on the frontlines of the coronavirus fight. By using the special promo code “MediaEdgeCourse” registrants can receive a discount off normal prices.

For additional program details and information, please email chuckn@mediaedge.ca or contact him at (416) 803-4653.