Convention center reaccredited through Global Biorisk Council
The Hot Springs Convention Center, under the leadership of Director of Operations Jennifer Wolcott, has achieved reaccreditation from the Global Biorisk Advisory Council for establishing and maintaining controls for infectious agents such as the COVID-19 virus, Visit Hot Springs said in a news release.
The convention center first achieved GBAC Star Facility Accreditation in 2021, becoming one of only two Arkansas meeting facilities to receive the accreditation.
“Hot Springs should be proud of Jennifer Wolcott and her dedicated team for maintaining this important facility accreditation during the COVID pandemic, which has placed our operations team — along with the rest of the Visit Hot Springs team — under unprecedented levels of stress in protecting our customers and visitors,” Visit Hot Springs CEO Steve Arrison said in the release.
The GBAC reaccreditation was achieved after the operations team submitted more than 400 pages of documentation establishing the fact that Wolcott and her staff have continued to implement a program of rigid controls for all forms of infectious agents.
“I extend a special thank you to Blake Woods, Zach Tucker and Curtis Franklin for working on our reaccreditation packet,” Wolcott said in the release. “The amount of work involved is tremendous, and they did a marvelous job.”
“The effort put forth by our convention services staff to meet the stringent requirements for the GBAC Star accreditation are a remarkable testament to our efforts every day to make the Hot Springs Convention Center among the safest places in the world for our customers to meet and enjoy themselves,” Wolcott said.
GBAC Star is the gold standard of prepared facilities. This accreditation means that a facility has:
• Established and maintained a cleaning, disinfection and infectious disease prevention program to minimize risks associated with infectious agents like the novel coronavirus.
• The proper cleaning protocols, disinfection techniques and work practices in place to combat biohazards and infectious disease.
• Highly informed cleaning professionals who are trained for outbreak and infectious disease preparation and response.
The GBAC Star Accreditation Program is performance-based and designed to help facilities establish a comprehensive system of cleaning, disinfection and infectious disease prevention for their staff and their building. The program relies on GBAC’s comprehensive training, which teaches the proper protocols, correct disinfection techniques and cleaning best practices for biohazard situations like the novel coronavirus.
Successful GBAC Star facilities are able to demonstrate that correct work practices, procedures and systems are in place to prepare, respond and recover from outbreaks and pandemics.
The GBAC Star Accreditation Program is based on quality management system principles and is similar in approach to other relevant industry programs like ISO 9001, ISO 45001, and ISO 35001.