ORLANDO, Fla. – (July 9, 2020) The Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) has received its Global Biorisk Advisory Council® (GBAC) STAR™ accreditation on outbreak prevention, response and recovery. Recognized as the gold standard of safe venues, the OCCC is one of the largest venues in the nation to receive the GBAC STAR™ accreditation.

As a division of the International Sanitary Supply Association (ISSA), GBAC STAR™ is an industry accreditation that provides third-party validation to ensure the implementation of rigorous protocols in response to biorisk situations. Focused on ensuring a clean, safe and healthy environment, the program establishes requirements to assist venues by providing best practices, protocols and procedures to control risks associated with the COVID-19 virus.

“We are committed to ensuring the health and safety of our employees, guests and attendees at the OCCC,” stated OCCC Executive Director Mark Tester. “By incorporating some of the most stringent protocols of the GBAC STAR program into our recovery and resiliency plan, we continue to work hard to recover from this public health crisis.”

As an important element of the OCCC’s Recovery and Resiliency Guidelines, the OCCC will complete 20 GBAC program elements with specific performance and guidance criteria. The comprehensive program will enable the OCCC to:

• Establish and maintain a cleaning, disinfection, and infectious disease prevention program to control and/or minimize risk associated with infectious agents for employees, guests, the community and the environment.
• Provide assurance and establish confidence that proper cleaning, disinfection and infectious disease prevention work practices are in place and implemented.
• Establish a framework for communication and raising awareness of best practices as they relate to cleaning, disinfection and infectious disease prevention.

The OCCC will continue to evaluate its response and consult with health and industry experts to ensure the implementation of rigorous biorisk protocols in response to the ongoing health emergency.

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About the Orange County Convention Center

The Orange County Convention Center is the second-largest convention facility in North America and provides approximately $3 billion in economic impact to Central Florida annually. In recent years, the Convention Center has averaged nearly 200 events, including 115 conventions and trade shows that attract more than 1.5 million attendees to the region each year. For more information about the Orange County Convention Center, visit www.occc.net.

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 www.issa.com or call 800-225-4772 (North America) or 847-982-0800.