Crime Scene Cleanup

Biohazardous Waste and Blood-borne Pathogens - Decontamination

© Karen Lotter

International Biohazard Symbol, Hazard Symbols
Crime Scene Cleanup begins when the authorities end an investigation. Biohazardous waste and blood-borne pathogens need to be removed, and the scene restored.

Editors Choice

Cleaning up a crime scene used to be the responsibility of the family or of local authorities, now crime scene cleanup is a very lucrative niche market within the cleaning industry. It's also called called CTS Decon - crime and trauma scene decontamination - and it involves cleaning up dangerous material.

Cleaning and Removal of Biohazardous Waste

The cleaners' job is to remove any sign of what happened at the location they have been employed to clean, and to deal with and any biohazards that result from such an incident. As US Federal regulations deem all bodily fluids to be biohazards, any blood or tissue at a crime scene is considered a potential source of infection.

Crime scene cleaners need specialist knowledge to handle biohazardous material safely and to know what to look for at the scene. They also need permits to transport and dispose of biohazardous waste.

Work of Crime Scene Cleaners

Crime scene cleaners are not only called to decontaminate scenes after tragedies and violent crimes, they also clean up toxic areas like methamphetamine labs and clean up medical waste. They perform some of the following kinds of cleaning jobs:

Restoring the Bioload

Crime Scene Cleanup starts the process of returning the scene to its pre-incident bioload.

In the context of a crime scene, the term bioload relates to the micro-organic matter dispersed by traumatic action. A crime scene will have a high bioload following a traumatic incident. The bioload will be significantly reduced by thorough cleaning of the scene.

How Did Crime Scene Cleaners Emerge into the Marketplace?

Eddie Evans from Crime Scene Cleanup puts it simply, “Crime scene cleaners emerged because it is now easier to catch a disease from cleaning crime scenes.”

He continues to explain that blood-borne pathogen's have become more dangerous and easier to contract. Therefore, the business field known as Crime Scene Cleanup has grown to serve the needs of the cleanup of blood and other biohazards for residential, commercial, and industrial environments.

Crime Scene Clean Up Technicians

On their website, the company, Crime Scene Cleanup states that they do odor elimination, biohazardous waste removal and disposal along with complete restoration services.

They also state that O.S.H.A. Guidelines and Procedures are always adhered to. Their Crime Scene Technicians are trained in how properly to remove, package and dispose of Biohazardous waste. Bloodborne Pathogen Training is required for all of their staff.

This company’s crime scene clean up technicians have also been trained how to approach and preserve a crime scene should additional evidence be discovered

Sources

How Crime Scene Clean-up Works by Julia Layton

New England Crime Scene Cleanup and Safety Consulting Services (NECSC)


The copyright of the article Crime Scene Cleanup in Forensic Science is owned by Karen Lotter. Permission to republish Crime Scene Cleanup in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.


International Biohazard Symbol, Hazard Symbols
Biohazard Symbol, World Health Organization
Cleaning Up a Crime Scene., NECSC
Packing the Biohazardous Material for Transport, NECSC
 

Comments
Aug 16, 2008 9:51 PM
Mia Carter :
Great story! I have a friend who does this for a living and it's very interesting all that goes into it. It's difficult to imagine the days before these services existed - what poor families and friends must have had to do.
Aug 18, 2008 9:32 AM
Guest :
Did u consider adding LYSOL and plain isopropyl alcohol to clean the area?
Along w/ hydrogen pyroxide for glass surfaces?
Along w/ contacting the original places where the diseases derived and finding out if the disease itself was ever cured or became an epidemic to the population where it derived? Or did the disease transplant it self and become able to multiply because of the ability to sanitize and clean the new place of habitation. Has the aerosol companies though tof making the products capable to be transported by means of using no air pressure and keeping the content at different standards for certain latitudes a mist instead of a can pressure container. And an ability to keep the ingredients just below the explosion point.
2 Comments


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