The Las Vegas Convention Center was awarded the Global Biorisk Advisory Council STAR facility accreditation by ISSA: The Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association. Considered the gold standard for safe facilities, the GBAC program was designed to control the risks associated with infectious agents, including the virus responsible for COVID-19. The LVCC is the first facility in Nevada to receive the accreditation.
ISSA introduced the GBAC STAR accreditation program earlier this year as the industry’s only outbreak prevention, response and recovery accreditation. To achieve the accreditation, the LVCC was required to demonstrate compliance with the program’s 20 elements, which range from standard operating procedures and risk assessment strategies to personal protective equipment and emergency preparedness and response measures.
“We are honored to receive this prestigious accreditation, which demonstrates our commitment to health and safety as we work toward reopening our doors,” says Brian Yost, chief operating officer of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. “While this has been a challenging time, the meetings and conventions industry in Las Vegas is resilient. This is a significant first step toward ensuring the safety of our operations in this new environment.”
The LVCC is among a growing group of convention centers, arenas, and public venues in the nation to achieve accreditation, ensuring that employees are trained with best work practices, protocols, procedures and systems for biorisk prevention and containment. The GBAC STAR accreditation is also ideal for facilities such as offices, restaurants, hotels, airports, stadiums and other public venues of all sizes.
“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” says Patricia Olinger, executive director of the Global Biorisk Advisory Council.
The LVCVA also developed a comprehensive plan for a new system of cleaning, disinfection and infectious disease prevention. The plan was developed in collaboration with health officials and key stakeholders after extensive, thoughtful research on health and safety protocols and industry best practices.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is charged with marketing Southern Nevada as a tourism and convention destination worldwide, and with operating the Las Vegas Convention Center. With nearly 150,000 hotel rooms in Las Vegas alone and more than 12 million square feet of meeting and exhibit space citywide, the LVCVA’s mission centers on attracting leisure and business visitors to the area. For more info, visit www.lvcva.com or www.visitlasvegas.com.
Composed of international leaders in the field of microbial-pathogenic threat analysis, mitigation, response, and recovery, the Global Biorisk Advisory Council, 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 info, visit www.gbac.org.
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., the association has regional offices in Mainz, Germany; Whitby, Canada; Parramatta, Australia; Seoul, South Korea; and Shanghai, China. For more info, visit www.issa.com.
