GeorgiaALIVE Announces ‘New Normal/Work Safety’ Effort to Emphasize Best Practices

Organization Adds Depth to Steering Committee; Recruits Work Safety Expertise and Enlists Restaurant/Media Personality

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GeorgiaALIVE Inc., a leadership initiative for a vital economy, shares and highlights best practices for Georgia businesses and Georgia citizens navigating “the new normal.” As some coronavirus restrictions are lifted, the organization is executing an education and public awareness initiative to amplify smart operating practices and safety guidelines for life outside of home from proven sources.

At its core, GeorgiaALIVE serves to augment leadership and innovation emerging from businesses, nonprofits, universities and research organizations. To further momentum, the organization has named new members to its steering committee – a group comprised of business and community leaders playing a critical role in identifying needed resources and providing direct access to support sources. The new members include:

• Heath Garrett, Strategic Partners & Media; Attorney, Political Strategist and Former Chief of Staff to Senator Isakson
• Deb Bruner, RN, Ph.D., FAAN, Senior Vice President of Research, Emory University

Preparing Georgia for The New Normal: Resources Backed by Science

GeorgiaALIVE’s “New Normal/Work Safety” public awareness effort aims to arm Georgians with necessary information to navigate a post-shelter-in-place environment.

“Daily preventative actions will be critical to maintaining public safety as businesses begin to reopen,” explains GeorgiaALIVE Principal William Sharp, Ph.D. and Associate Professor at Emory University. “A one-size-fits-all approach will not work. With no single standard to ensure workplace and community safety, companies must be diligent about maintaining best practices while taking cues from industry leaders and science. Our goal is to distill the information from credible sources and make it relevant to all Georgians –those opening and those visiting businesses.”

Dr. Sharp spearheads GeorgiaALIVE’s work safety focus. Additionally, two resources bring deep OSHA expertise, having been on the frontlines of planning workplace safety processes for essential businesses in times of crisis, including this pandemic:

• Eric J. Conn, Founding Partner at Conn Maciel Carey LLP and Chair of the firm’s national OSHA - Workplace Safety Practice Group
• Amanda Walker, Partner at Conn Maciel Carey LLP / OSHA - Workplace Safety Practice Group

GeorgiaALIVE will begin promoting guidance and providing resources informed by groups such as the CDC and OSHA. Planned resources include informational on-premise signage, an infection control and response plan for business adaption and use, answers to frequently asks questions on pandemic-related employment law and workplace safety, and a hotline for businesses to pose work safety concerns.

Public Awareness: Spotlight on the Restaurant Community

One highly visible business sector needing to plan for work safety today is the restaurant industry. Stephen “Steak” Shapiro, Food Network personality and founder of Atlanta Eats, joins GeorgiaALIVE as a supporter to highlight the critical role restaurants will play in the state in the new environment. “Restaurants are the heartbeat of our communities. With approximately 20,000 in Georgia, supporting and highlighting those doing things well will be vital.”

For more information, or to share or showcase information on the GeorgiaALIVE website, reach out to [e-mail].

About GeorgiaALIVE

GeorgiaALIVE, a Georgia corporation with pending nonprofit status, was originally formed out of an effort to track the spread of the novel coronavirus and the associated COVID-19 disease across the United States and specifically within the state of Georgia. The organization has a dual mission of saving Georgia lives while supporting the safe and full reopening of Georgia’s economy. The organization has the ability to address future needs of the state. Its mission, backed by data, includes: public awareness campaigns to keep Georgians safe, supporting innovation and resources that enhance the prevention, treatment, testing and tracing of coronavirus and providing health and safety guidance for state businesses as businesses open and operate post-shelter-in-place.

For more information, visit GeorgiaALIVE.com.