What You Didn’t Know About Crime Scene Clean Up

Crime scene technicians, despite what shows like CSI might have you believe, are usually employed by small businesses. The industry is highly regulated due to safety considerations, and crime scene cleaners must receive very specific training in order to perform their jobs. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at aftermath crime scene clean up and the regulations that govern it.

What is Crime Scene Clean Up?

Crime scene cleanup deals specifically with situations involving blood and other potentially infectious materials. Typically, incidents requiring crime scene cleanup include acts of intentional harm or self harm, suicides, homicides, combinations of suicide and homicide, partial bombings resulting in human pathology contamination, and the transport, treatment, and disposal of regulated waste. According to the federal government, any bodily fluid is considered a biohazard, but most crime scene technicians deal primarily with the clean up of blood.

How Are Crime Scene Technicians Trained?

Crime scene technicians attend biohazard training and are trained in federal or state OSHA regulations. In the U.S., OSHA regulates crime scene clean up with its Bloodborne Pathogen Rule 1910.1030. Many crime scene clean up companies are actually carpet cleaning and water damage companies who have completed training in crime scene clean up in order to diversify their offerings.

How Do Crime Scene Technicians Do Their Jobs?

A crime scene technician’s work starts when the coroner’s office or another official, government body releases the scene to the owner. A crime scene technician can only begin cleanup of a contaminated scene after an investigation is completely terminated. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends an exposure control plan to all first responders, helping to avoid exposure to bloodborne pathogens that is not necessary.

The procedures followed by crime scene technicians are similar to those used in the military for decontamination of internal and external environments. They use specialized cleaning materials to clean up blood and human matter like foggers that thicken cleaning products enough to reach every corner of a crime scene.

Who Pays a Crime Scene Technician?

This is one of the major ways that crime scene clean up differs from regular clean up services. Costs related to crime scene clean up are often covered by property insurance as costs related to property damage. See this reference for more.