Dubai Mall is First Shopping Center to Achieve GBAC STAR™ Facility Accreditation

The Dubai Mall, one of the largest shopping malls in the world, along with 14 additional facilities around the globe have achieved GBAC STAR™ facility accreditation from the Global Biorisk Advisory Council® (GBAC), a Division of ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association. There are currently more than 3,000 facilities in 66 different countries undergoing the process of earning GBAC STAR accreditation.

Newly accredited facilities include:

• Ashford Castle in Cong, County Mayo, Ireland
• Brazilian Court Hotel in Palm Beach, Fla.
• Chase Center, home to the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, in San Francisco
• The Dubai Mall in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• The Evelyn Hotel in New York City
• Hotel Amigo, a Rocco Forte Hotel in Brussels, Belgium
• Il Sereno Hotel in Torno, Italy
• Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center in Long Beach, Calif.
• The Palace Hotel in Tokyo, Japan
• Palm Springs Convention Center in Palm Springs, Calif.
• Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix
• Rockliffe Hall in Hurworth-on-Tees, Darlington, United Kingdom
• United Scrap Metal in Philadelphia
• Villa Pliniana Hotel in Torno, Italy
• Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

“We’re excited to announce the Dubai Mall as the largest facility to date to achieve GBAC STAR accreditation along with these other leading venues around the world,” said GBAC Executive Director Patricia Olinger. “GBAC STAR can adapt to a facility 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.”

With a total internal floor area of 5.9 million square feet, the Dubai Mall welcomes more than 80 million visitors each year and is currently undergoing a massive expansion, paving the way to welcome over 100 million visitors. Several five-star hotels, including the historic Ashford Castle built in the 12^th century, have successfully achieved GBAC STAR accreditation. The Chase Center joins a growing list of accredited arenas, including the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles. Plus, the addition of the Long Beach, Palm Springs, Phoenix, and Washington convention centers brings the total number of GBAC STAR-accredited convention centers in the United States to 16.

GBAC STAR is the cleaning industry’s only outbreak prevention, response, and recovery accreditation for all types of facilities, including retail, stadiums and arenas, hotels, restaurants, commercial, and more. Accreditation ensures a facility has 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 (SARS-CoV-2).

“No matter where a facility is located, GBAC STAR’s program elements can help organizations establish cleaning and disinfection practices that help prevent the spread of infectious disease,” said ISSA Executive Director John Barrett. “GBAC STAR is truly changing the way the world views cleaning.”

More than 40 facilities worldwide have achieved GBAC STAR accreditation to date. GBAC has produced a series of video interviews with executives at accredited facilities about their experience with the GBAC STAR process and what the accreditation means to them. Hear from leaders from Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, and more at https://gbac.issa.com/media.

To review the full list of GBAC STAR-accredited facilities plus committed facilities and industry supporters, visit https://gbac.issa.com/gbac-star-facilities-and-supporters/.

To apply for GBAC STAR facility accreditation, visit gbac.org/star.

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.

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