Palm Springs Convention Center has become one of fewer than 50 facilities worldwide to earn the coveted GBAC STAR accreditation from the world’s leading cleaning industry association.
GBAC STAR is the only outbreak prevention, response, and recovery accreditation for all types of facilities, including retail, stadiums and arenas, hotels, restaurants, commercial, and more. It recognizes facilities with highly skilled and trained cleaning professionals who follow a strict cleaning, disinfection, and infectious disease prevention program to minimize risks associated with infectious agents like the novel coronavirus.
The accreditation comes from the Global Biorisk Advisory Council, a division of ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association focused on microbial-pathogenic threat analysis, mitigation, response, and recovery. More than 3,000 facilities in 66 different countries have begun the process toward accreditation.
GBAC STAR adapts to facilities of any size, type, or location, assuring all who visit that it follows the proper practices, procedures, and systems to prepare, respond, and recover from the global pandemic — and other infectious disease outbreaks in the future.
Palm Springs Convention Center is among the latest cohort, which includes the Staples Center in Los Angeles; Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.; The Dubai Mall in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Chase Center (home of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, in San Francisco; as well as five-star hotels in Palm Beach, Florida; New York City; Torno, Italy; and Tokyo, Japan.
“Palm Springs is one of the first 16 convention centers in the world to receive this certification,” says Scott White, president and CEO of the Greater Palm Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau. “These efforts are critical to the recovery and long-term success of our destination.”