All About Biohazard Cleanup

What Is a Biohazard Cleanup?

Have you been put in a situation that has made you wonder what biohazard cleanup is and what it requires and costs? Our expert team here at Live Green Restoration has got the answers you are looking for here in our latest blog.

Biohazard cleanup is the process of cleaning the aftermath left behind by a death, traumatic injury, or hazardous contamination. Only those specially trained to handle dangerous materials can perform this operation, due to the specialized chemicals and steps needed to clean the scene. And as per cost, insurance typically covers 95% of the work done, with payment being made after the service is provided.

That is just the start to understanding what biohazard cleanup is. If you want to understand the entire process, what is involved, and how much it costs, keep on reading.

What Are the Biohazard Cleanup Procedures?

As stated above, biohazard cleanup is the process of cleaning up the aftermath left behind by a death, traumatic injury, or hazardous contamination. This means, if there is a homicide, suicide, discovered decomposing body, injury where bodily fluid has been spilled, or where hazardous materials, such as diseases or bacteria, have been let loose, a biohazard cleanup crew is needed to treat the scene properly.

The next step taken will be to call a professional biohazard cleanup crew. Only after this call is made, will any biohazard cleanup take place. During this phone call, the team and the person who called will go through what steps need to be taken following their specific scenario. This includes setting a time to clean, what situation occurred, who is allowed and not allowed on or at the scene, how long the process will take, what steps to clean the place will be taken, and such on.

Following this phone call, the biohazard cleanup crew will show up at the designated time frame and get to work. Depending on the scenario that took place, the cleanup crew will have to perform different steps. The most common steps to any biohazard cleanup are the following:

 

·           Equip themselves with the proper protective materials (i.e., gloves, eye and lung protection, hazmat suits, and foot coverings), and make sure there are no gaps for any contaminant to get through.

 

·           Secure the scene where the incident took place. This can vary in depth due to the scale of the scenario that took place. This can be anywhere from putting up some caution tape, to full-on enclosure of the space with tarps, tape, and air purification.

 

·           Begin cleaning up any solid objects. Broken glass or any that could cause their protective materials to become compromised. These objects are put into leak-proof containers and are never removed by hand, as that could lead to compromised protective equipment.

 

·           After all compromising items have been safely dealt with; it is on to the first cleaning stage. In this cleaning stage, the goal is to soak up all the bodily fluid that escaped from the body. This must be done first as the specially designed kill agents in the chemicals used cannot do their job if the bodily fluid is still present.

 

·           Once the bodily fluid is all soaked up, the biohazard cleanup crew can move on to cleaning stage two. Stage two is the start of disinfecting the area, using specially designed chemicals with kill agents. The team will soak the entire infected area with the chemicals, then start scrubbing from the outside in.

 

·           Stage 3 is specially designated for giving the area where the bodily fluid is laid a substantial, focused cleaning. Following the cleaning stages, the cleanup crew will need to dispose of all biohazard materials. This is done by putting all materials used to clean and provide protection to the team into unique plastic bags. This ensures that no biohazardous material remains at the scene.

 

·           Now that the scene has been cleaned and the biohazardous materials removed, decontamination can begin. With the use of a registered disinfectant product with a broad spectrum kill claim, the cleanup crew will decontaminate any reusable objects.

 

·           When everything is cleaned and sterilized, there is a final check. The team will check the scene and themselves for any possible remaining biohazardous material. If any is found, the proper steps will be remade to solve the problem.

 

·           Lastly, the crew will now need to clean themselves. To ensure contaminants are fully off, our certified technicians sterilize themselves. This reduces any spread elsewhere, ensuring everyone’s safety.

 

So hopefully now, you aren’t asking what biohazard cleanup is. Biohazard cleanup is very important and there is a lot of information on it. Be sure to contact the experts on this kind of cleanup at 661-390-8255 today!