Biohazard Cleaning Takes Much More Than a Swipe with Mop

Biohazard cleanup is necessary wherever biological or chemical substances are present, posing a risk of spreading viruses, bacteria or other disease-causing organisms.

There’s a reason all healthcare professionals wear gloves and dispose of medical waste in specially marked biohazard containers. Lots of stuff out there is just waiting to kill us! It pays to err on the side of caution!

Biohazards include blood, bodily fluids or tissue–either human or animal. They can also be chemicals, like the tear gas sprayed by law enforcement. Mold and fungus count, too.

Nightmare Biohazard Scenarios

There are any number of situations that involve biohazards.

• Crime scenes or suicides frequently require biohazard cleaning teams. Volumes of blood, brain matter and other tissue, bodily fluids, and bits of bone may be sprayed about. The challenge for crime scene cleaners is to get every single trace. Blood and tissue can find its way in cracks, behind furniture, inside lamps—anywhere! And it all has to be tracked down and eradicated.

Sometimes blood or fluids soak into wallboard or flooring and biohazard remediation becomes demolition as contaminated sections must be torn out and replaced.

• Industrial accidents often involve significant loss of blood. Speed and efficiency are challenges, and such sites must be handled in compliance with strict OSHA and EPA regulations.
• Unattended deaths are gruesome scenes in which a body is not discovered for a while. To put it bluntly, bodies liquify; they just melt into the floor or the chair or the bed in a horror scenario. The pooling requires everything to be tossed, and sometimes layers of subflooring are penetrated clear through to the crawl space.
• Jail cells and holding areas can be the scenes of some pretty nasty human messes. Enough said. You can use your imagination for the rest.
• Hoarding situations are more than collections of junk. They are usually teeming with gross filth to boot. Too cluttered and piled up to clean, mold and bacteria find hoarding situations a breeding ground. Sometimes animals are hoarded, which means pet waste, food cans, and unemptied litter boxes can be a problem. Hoarders also attract rat and mice infestations.

Biohazard cleaners must systematically dispose of all the detritus before the real cleaning can begin.

These are just a few examples of what biohazard cleaners handle on a daily basis. For the average person, encountering just one of these scenes would be nightmare fuel for life.

When Should You Call a Biohazard Cleaning Company?

Any significant blood spill or other potential biohazard should definitely be treated as a potential health threat rather than a DIY project. You don’t want to get anywhere near potential deadly pathogens without protective equipment, and you can’t get rid of them by swiping at them with a mop and Mr. Clean. You’ll just contaminate the mop and spread droplets everywhere when wheeling the mop bucket back to the janitor’s closet. Bad plan.

Unless you’re a trained professional-keep your distance and call a professional biohazard cleaning company! That’s the only way to deal with biohazards safely and make sure the area is effectively cleaned and disinfected. If even a trace is left behind you create a health risk. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you could infect yourself or others and spread pathogens in your wake.

Don’t take risks. In the event you are ever faced with biohazard cleanup, pick up the phone and call Sterile Pros. Our experts are on call and ready to spring into action 24/7.