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What is crime scene cleanup

Television productions like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation have added to the popularity of the term Crime Scene Cleanup. Australia, Canada and England have added it to their professional cleaning terminology.

The generic terms for Crime Scene Cleanup include trauma cleaning, biorecovery, crime and trauma scene decontamination, CTS Decon, blood cleanup and bio cleaning and crime scene clean up.

Some countries refers to individuals who practice this profession as Trauma Scene Waste Management Practitioners.

Types of clean up

Crime scene clean up may involve a single blood loss event following a burglary, battery, or homicide. Companies also clean suicides, unattended deaths, tear gas damaged environments, and other crime and trauma scenes. Larger crime scenes involve terrorist attacks, mass murder scenes, and the cleanup of anthrax and other biochemicals.

Crime scene clean up companies like The Ideal Group may also clean bird and rodent infested areas. Crime scene clean up companies are trained to clean up “compulsive hoarding” situations where the dwelling owner, over time, refuses to remove items of any kind such as rubbish, food, and animal and human waste. The crime scene cleaners’ experience and equipment more suits this type of cleaning than a typical cleaning company’s.

Besides the government’s standards, many health organisations have created similar standards and regulations. Similarly, the Center for Disease Control (USA) establishes standards and regulations for working with blood soiled environments as well as exposure reporting.

Crime scene clean up is a term applied to any situation involving biological cleaning and or health concerning issues. Such issues may include:

• Clandestine methamphetamine laboratory contamination
• Flood and sewage backups
• Suicides
• Homicides
• Human decompositions
• Hoarding (pack rat houses)
• Bird or rodent droppings (hantavirus/histoplasmosis dangers)
• Toxic mould, spore, and fungus remediation
• Distressed property remediation (unfit for habitation)
• Animal and pet odours
• Biological terrorism
• Mass casualty scenes
• Police chemicals usage
• Disease outbreaks
• Medical waste transport, treatment and disposal

Insurance Coverage

Costs related to crime scene cleaning may be covered by property insurance.

Business

Crime scene clean up is a small business activity in most cases. At times small businesses, such as carpet cleaning and water damage companies add crime scene cleanup to diversify their activities. Due to the legal and ethical complications crime scene cleanup is becoming either its own business entity or a complete division.

Those who hire a crime scene clean up company should make sure that they are properly trained in health regulations and can provide documentation of proper biohazardous waste disposal.

Methods

The crime scene cleaners work begins when the coroner’s office or other official, government body releases the “scene” to the owner or other responsible parties. Only when the investigation has completely terminated on the contaminated scene may the cleaning companies begin their task.

Standard operating procedures for the crime scene cleanup field often include military-like methods for the decontamination of internal and external environments. Universal precautions recognised Worldwide are the cautionary rule-of-thumb for this field of professional cleaning.

Regulations and Procedures

In United Kingdom following acts very briefly regulating this type of services:

• The Health and Safety at work act (HSWA).
• The management of Health and Safety at work regulations (MHSWR).
• The control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH).
• The Reporting of incidents, Disease and Dangerous Occurrences (RIDDOR)
• Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations (PPE).

Given the limited information in the UK on the Health and Welfare of Crime Scene Cleaners who are responsible for the clean up of blood and other body fluids from accidents, homicides and Crime Scenes, we also follow the guidelines laid out by OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), WHO (World Health Organization) and ABRA (America Bio-recovery Association).