Bristol, Va./Tenn. (August 11, 2020) – The Birthplace of Country Music (BCM) has achieved Healthy Business Certification from the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry, certifying that both its business office and the Birthplace of Country Music Museum has a disease prevention plan in place that meets guidelines set forth by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) for workplace health and pandemic response.
“Our first priority is to provide a safe environment for our visitors, volunteers, and staff,” said BCM Executive Director Leah Ross. “This certification helped us to refine our current guidelines and create a stronger plan that will help us combat illness in the workplace while providing a healthier environment for guests at the museum. Many of these practices will carry on past the pandemic.”
When BCM was forced to close the Birthplace of Country Music Museum back in March due to COVID-19, the organization immediately went to work developing a health safety plan in preparations for the day of reopening. The state of Virginia gave the green light to reopen the museum in June, and the museum proceeded with full implementation of set plans.
In July the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce hosted the Health Business Certification training provided by the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry and invited BCM to take part. BCM attended the training, and though the class helped participants with the development of a safety plan, the nonprofit submitted its own, previously written plan. The plan was reviewed and accepted by the state with no further action needed.
The Healthy Business Certification course helps businesses and organizations become familiar with standards and regulations that OSHA, the CDC, and WHO have set in place to make sure all employees function in a healthy workplace environment. Objectives include understanding the purpose of infectious disease prevention, recognizing potential hazards, identifying key components of an Infectious Disease Plan, and the development and implementation of an Infectious Disease Plan.
“We received tremendous feedback on the operational and safety plans our staff developed earlier this year, and we were thrilled to learn that the guidelines and practices we already had in place met the high standards of certification,” said Ross.
The certification will be up for renewal in July 2021.