Actions Taken by the Georgia Board of Funeral Services at its March 9 Meeting

Macon, Ga.—The Georgia Board of Funeral Services met on Tuesday, March 9, 2010.

The Board voted to approve four new funeral establishment licenses and approved five changes to funeral director in full and continuous charge of funeral establishments.

The Board voted to approve a change of name application for the following funeral establishments:

• Burgess Funeral Home, Ashburn
• Cremation Society of Simplicity, LLC, Newnan

The Board voted to approve the following requests for grace periods to replace the facilities’ funeral director in full and continuous charge:

• Caldwell & Cowan Funeral Home, Inc., Covington
• Thornton Funeral Home, Hazelhurst

The Board voted to accept a consent order upon receipt, on the following applicant for licensure reinstatement:

• William Anthony House, Funeral Director Embalmer, Griffin: Provides for licensure with 24 months probation due to criminal history.

The Board voted to accept a consent order upon receipt on the following licensee:

• Charlie A. Reid, Jr., Funeral Director, Augusta: Provides for a $500 fine, 24 months probation, and monthly death certificate reports to the Board office and to the Richmond County Vital Records Department.

The Board voted to approve the following courses for continuing education:

• Batesville Casket Company: Packaging Concepts for today’s cremation families…An Initial Action Plan
• Epsilon Nu Delta Mortuary Fraternity: Social Networking and Your Funeral Home, Known Shipper Regulations
• Master Grave Service, Inc.: Burial Vaults MFG – Cremation – Metal Vaults Personalization
• Matthews International: The Devil Is In The Details – Customer Loyalty
• NFDA – National Funeral Directors Association: 2010 Family Business Conference, Maximizing Preneed Profitability in Small Firms, Developing a Payment-in-Full Policy, Preneed Ethics in Demanding Times, What Is Your GRASP on Cremation Consumers?, Funeral Packages, Round Table Discussions, The Embalmer’s Tool Kit, Eliminating Potential Wage and Hour Violations at Your Firm, Drugs and Alcohol in the Workplace: What Employers Need to Know, Advanced Cremation Arranging
• International Order of the Golden Rule, OGR: 2010 Annual Conference: Fresh Tomorrows – New Heights, New Opportunities
• Wilbert Burial Vault Company: Navigating the Cremation Market, The Arrangement Conference, Burial Vault 101, Plant Tour
• InSight Institute: Funeral Celebrants
• Stericycle, Inc.: Confined Space Awareness, Respiratory Protection Awareness, Tuberculosis Regulatory Awareness, Hazard Communication, Formaldehyde Awareness, Lock Out/Tag Out Awareness, Funeral Service OSHA/BBP
• Academy of Graduate Embalmers of Georgia, Annual Clinic
• Practicum Strategies: Embalming Chemistry, Business Morals and Ethics and the Funeral Director, Everyday Ethics in Funeral Service, Motivation and Coaching for the Successful Funeral Director, Managing Stress for Funeral Professionals, Hazardous chemicals/Toxic Substances, Complying with “The Funeral Rule,” Pre-Planning for Funeral Home Business Interruptions, The Funeral Profession and Consumer Behavior, Funeral Values, A review of Basic embalming Procedures, Moral Dilemmas Facing the Funeral Professional, Dealing with Communicable Diseases/Aids, Universal Precautions, Job Burnout in Funeral Service, OSHA: Practical Guide for Funeral Service, How Do We Tell the Children, Cremation: The Concept, the Client, The Caring, Cremation: The Process, Preneed Funeral Planning, Introduction to Accounting for the Funeral Director, Understanding and Completing the Certificate of Death, Ethics for Funeral Directors, Living with the FTC’s Funeral Rule, OSHA for Small Business, Employee Recruitment and Retention in Funeral Service
• Aurora Casket Company: Aurora Plant Tour, Meeting the Needs of the Cremation Family, No Religion, Please – Meeting the Challenge, Leading the Next Generation, Selecting Special Products, Four Generations in the Funeral Home, Marketing Today & Tomorrow, Beginning with the End in Mind, Making the Emotional Connection, Lifetimes
• FuneralCE: Pre-Need Planning, Bloodborne Pathogens, Basic Funeral Customs, Decision Making, Depositions, Ethics of Making Funeral Arrangements, Funeral Rule, Goal Setting in the Funeral Industry, The History of Preserving Human Remains, HIV/AIDS, OSHA in the Workplace, OSHA Workplace Rights, Rational Thinking, Stillborn Support, Targeting Your Primary Markets, Understanding the At-Need Consumer, Working with Difficult People in the Funeral Industry, Funeral Customs with Military Honors, Personalization in the Funeral Industry
• FuneralReview.com: Cycle of Excellence: Executive Development Program, Cycle of Excellence: Funeral Director Skills Module 1, Cycle of Excellence: Funeral Director Skills Module 2, Cycle of Excellence: Funeral Director Skills Module 3, Cycle of Excellence: Introductory Arranger Training, Cycle of Excellence: People Skills, Cycle of Excellence: Advanced People Skills, Cycle of Excellence: People Skills Refresher, Cycle of Excellence: Phone Skills, Cycle of Excellence: Phone Skills Advanced, Cycle of Excellence: Phone Skills Refresher, Cycle of Excellence: Cremation, Cycle of Excellence: Intro People Management Training, Cycle of Excellence: People Management Module 2
• 360Training.COM, Inc: HIV/AIDS and Public Health issues, Infection Protection, Business Writing, Hazard Communication, Formaldehyde and Needlestick Safety, Wills & Trust, Dealing with Grief

The Board approved the following orders to accept fine money for inspection violations:

• Godfrey Funeral Home, LLC, Valdosta: $200 for failure to have a card or brochure in each casket stating the price of the casket.
• Stocks Funeral Home, Inc., Atlanta: $150 for failure to maintain one operable motor hearse and/or combination hearse/ambulance with current Georgia registration for the transportation of casketed human remains at the establishment, conspicuously display a current biennial renewal license for the establishment, embalmer, funeral director and any apprentices.
• Wright & Jones Funeral Home, Lincolnton: $50 for failure to equip all embalming rooms with a sink with drain opening and non porous sanitary cover into a sewerage or septic tank.

The Georgia Board of Funeral Services will hold its next meeting Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. at the Professional Licensing Boards Division office in Macon.

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