Homeowners can face some significant challenges. One type of challenge that can seem insurmountable initially is a biohazardous situation in a home or business. If you’ve found yourself facing a biohazardous situation in your home or business, you need to have answers to a number of fundamental questions:

  • What is a biohazard?
  • What are the common types of residential or commercial biohazards?
  • What do I do to keep my family safe?
  • What is biohazard cleaning?
  • How do I hire a biohazard cleaning company?

What Is a Biohazard?

A biohazard is a biological substance of some sort that presents a significant health risk to humans. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention places biological hazards into different categories that include:

  • Bacteria
  • Viruses
  • Other microorganisms
  • Toxins

What Are Common Types of Residential or Commercial Biohazards?

Some biohazards occur as the result of truly tragic, traumatic occurrences that include:

There are other types of biohazardous situations that also present very real, even potentially fatal, health risks that may be somewhat less emotionally charged:

No matter the underlying cause for a biohazardous situation in a home or business, the danger of a biohazard and the challenges associated with eliminating it must never be underestimated.

What Is Biohazard Cleaning?

Biohazard cleaning is a multi-phase process designed to eliminate biological hazards. The ultimate objective of biohazard cleaning is to restore a residence or business to a fully livable or usable condition. The facets of comprehensive biohazard cleaning are:

  • Thorough cleaning and removal or biohazardous waste
  • Sanitization of the contaminated area
  • Deodorization of the premises

The thorough cleaning and removal process can only be undertaken by individuals wearing appropriate, approved personal protective equipment. 

At a minimum, the personal protective equipment needs to include:

  • Face mask or respirator
  • Gloves
  • Uniform or other protective garments
  • Protective eyewear

The initial cleaning process involves the removal of any biomatter at the scene. This may include blood, other bodily fluids, sewage (feces, urine, and other waste), or rodent droppings (depending on the nature of the biohazardous situation). In addition, objects that have been contaminated by biomatter but cannot be cleaned are subject to removal as well. These waste items are placed in an appropriately designed and identified biowaste container. The container or containers are then transported to an authorize biohazardous waste disposal center.

The contaminated area is then thoroughly cleaned. This includes all impacted surfaces (floor, ceiling, walls) as well as any objects in the zone subject to cleaning.

Following the cleaning phase, the sanitization of the contaminated area is undertaken. Sanitization requires the use of professional, medical-grade sanitizing agents. 

When the sanitization process is complete, the next step in comprehensive biohazard cleaning is deodorization. Deodorization eradicates any foul odor associated with or arising from a biohazardous situation at a residence. The reality is that the stench that can be associated with certain types of biohazards (sewage issue, unintended death) can be alarming, all-encompassing, and destructive. Deodorization ensures that any odor is fully eliminated from the premises.

How Do I Hire a Biohazard Cleaning Company in Biohazard Cleaning Company in Lucerne Valley, California?

There are several tips to consider when you are in need of assistance in eliminating a biohazardous situation at your home (or business). First, you do want to move with all deliberate speed in hiring a qualified, reputable biohazard cleaning company in Lucerne Valley, California. This doesn’t mean you can forgo doing due diligence before hiring, however.

Experience matters. You must hire a remediation service that has specific experience in cleaning the type of biohazardous situation you have at your residence.

There are a variety of financial issues to consider as well:

  • You need to make sure the selected biohazard remediator is charging a fair and reasonable fee for services.
  • You need to obtain a firm estimate before work commences.
  • You need to ascertain when payment will be due. A reputable company sets the payment due date after work is completed and you have the chance to approve the job done.
  • Find out if a company accepts insurance. Some homeowner’s insurance policies provide at least some coverage for biohazard cleanup.

By paying attention to these tips, you will be able to hire a reliable, reputable biohazard cleaning company in Lucerne Valley. 

Photo Courtesy of Ron Kroetz.

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