CSI International, Inc., a nationwide facilities management, janitorial and building operations and maintenance company, is one of the first dozen providers globally and the first in Florida to receive the GBAC STAR™ accreditation from the worldwide cleaning industry association (ISSA).

When COVID began ravaging the world, the nearly 900 airport members of the Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) turned to ISSA for guidance on how to best protect workers and the traveling public from this dreaded virus. Their protocols remain in place at airports and facilities nationwide and today, the association offers the rigorous accreditation program for building service contractors.

According to CSI International CEO David Hammond (pictured), earning the accreditation required nearly seven months of training 125 management-level employees and substantial investment in staff time, resources and funds to accomplish.

“Achieving this high level of certification was simply the right thing to do,” he says. “We clean a lot of educational institutions and want parents to feel comfortable that their kids are safe. Taking this extra step means all of the facilities we manage are cleaned according to the industry’s highest standards.”

According to GBAC Executive Director Patricia Olinger, the GBAC STAR™ Service Accreditation “demonstrates service providers’ commitments to the health and safety of their employees, the guests of the facilities they oversee, and the communities in which they operate.”

According to the GBAC, the accreditation “validates a cleaning company’s cleaning, disinfection, and infection prevention program to help its facility customers prepare, respond and recover from biohazards and infectious agents.”

Firms are required to have their frontline cleaning staff—including all subcontracted cleaning staff—complete the course and provide proof of their completion during the GBAC STAR™ Service Accreditation process.

“I saw that when COVID hit, biohazard and infectious agent cleaning processes were going to be either required or expected by our customers,” Hammond says. “I wanted to be ahead of the curve and do everything possible to ensure the facilities we care for are as safe and clean as possible.”

For more information on the GBAC STAR™ program, click here.