We’re GBAC STAR Accredited, and You Should Be, Too
As employees start to return to the office, they’re understandably nervous. After all, the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t over yet. We’re still wearing masks and staying six feet apart. We’re still ordering our groceries online and getting takeout from our favorite restaurants. And while vaccines are here, the rollout has been bumpy, to say the least.
Facility managers understand this and have been working hard for months—since the pandemic began, really—to ensure their buildings are safe, healthy, and ready for business when it’s time to reopen. They’ve tackled larger projects like improving air filtration and ventilation throughout their properties and managed smaller tasks like ordering individual bottles of hand sanitizer for employees. Installation of signage to improve traffic flow? Check. Removal of furniture to promote social distancing? Check.
All of these efforts are important, but ultimately it all comes down to one thing: employee confidence.
If your employees don’t feel good about returning to work, it doesn’t matter how many decals you place on the floor or which touchless features you’ve installed in the restrooms. What matters is that employees are confident that not only is their office safe to return to, but also their company follows the most stringent infection prevention protocols to ensure it stays that way.
At APEX, we’ve been offering infection control services that help our clients and their employees breathe easy for more than a decade. Since March alone, we have disinfected more than 60 million square feet of space across the country using EPA-registered products that help contribute to a safer environment in accordance with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Our technicians are trained and certified in infection prevention best practices, and we have helped educate hundreds of facility managers on the difference between cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting.
But we realized that while we’d established ourselves as infection control experts among the facility management community, we hadn’t truly demonstrated our commitment to providing a clean, healthy and safe environment for our own employees. So in 2021, we pursued—and achieved—GBAC STAR™ facility accreditation from the Global Biorisk Advisory Council, a division of ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association.
GBAC STAR-accredited facilities have undergone third-party validation of the cleaning and disinfecting protocols, procedures and practices they have put in place to combat biohazards and infectious disease. These facilities must go through a rigorous screening process to prove their compliance with the program’s 20 core elements, which include the facility’s leadership, commitment, and planning; goals and strategies; supplies and inventory management; training, preparation, and prevention; and constant vigilance.
In other words, GBAC-STAR accredited facilities know how to prepare for, respond to and recover from infectious disease outbreaks and biohazard situations. When employees, customers and visitors see the GBAC STAR seal as they enter a building, they can trust the facility is cleaning and disinfecting to a higher standard based on proven scientific evidence.
In becoming GBAC STAR-accredited, APEX has joined hundreds of organizations across the globe in committing to safer and healthier spaces. Accredited facilities include large sporting arenas like American Airlines Center, Capital One Arena and Staples Center and major airports like DFW International Airport, Mineta San Jose International Airport and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, as well as smaller businesses ranging from neighborhood libraries to local theaters.
APEX is proud to be the only specialty care provider to have earned this coveted designation. It’s just one of the many ways we’re expressing our solidarity with the facility management profession. Now more than ever, facility managers need partners they can rely on to help them keep their buildings, employees and communities safe. You can trust us to help you provide a work environment and cleaning protocol that your employees can feel good about as they return to the office. And if you decide to pursue GBAC STAR accreditation for your own facility, we’d be happy to explain the process and answer all your questions.
Whether you need infection control services, carpet care, furniture and textiles care, natural stone and terrazzo care, tile and grout cleaning, or metal and wood care, we know your needs, understand your needs, and can meet your needs. Give us a call at 844-462-7391 or schedule your assessment today to learn how we can help ensure your facility is clean, safe and healthy and your employees have peace of mind knowing you are prepared to keep them safe today and tomorrow.