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Working with a biohazard cleaning company in San Mateo, California is necessary for many different situations. Biohazard cleaning is a specific type of cleaning that’s required when you need to sanitize a space to prevent the spread of disease. These spaces must be cleaned by people specializing in cleaning up biohazardous waste. Getting a regular “really great cleaning company” to handle the cleanup of a site where biohazardous waste exists could end up causing big problems down the road.
What Is Biohazardous/Infectious Waste?
There are many different types of waste found in many different scenarios, but the type biohazard cleaners target is biohazardous waste and other types of potentially infectious material, also referred to as OPIM.
Biohazardous waste is waste that’s filled with pathogens that cause diseases in humans. The key pathogens are viruses, bacteria, fungi, worms, or protozoa. When biohazardous waste cleaning is done, the cleaners remove waste that’s filled with all of these types of pathogens.
Bloodborne pathogens like HIV and HBV are the pathogens that spread disease through human blood. This means that everything from blood to syringes to needles create a biohazard risk at certain sites since people can be pricked with them, causing the diseases to pass into their bloodstreams.
There are many other types of pathogens that need to be eliminated through biohazard cleaning. These types of pathogens can create other types of illnesses like pneumonia and malaria. This is why it’s extremely important that you work with cleaners who are trained in removing all types of infectious waste.
What Types of Biohazardous Waste/Opim Is Found at the Sites That Biohazard Cleaners Work With?
There are many different types of waste that biohazard cleaning teams work hard to remove. This waste includes blood, human waste, human bodily fluids, human tissue, animal waste, animal tissue, drug paraphernalia, contaminated towels and rags and a host of other items.
What Types of Sites Do Biohazard Cleaning Teams Work At?
There are many different types of sites that biohazard cleaning teams may be asked to clean up. Some of those include the following.
Meth Labs
Meth labs are some of the most volatile spaces around. One wrong move, and the entire place can go up in flames or an explosion. Meth is an extremely fragile chemical that needs to be handled carefully, even when it’s simply being cleaned up. If someone were to walk into a meth lab without the proper PPE gear, they could easily inhale bits of the drug into their lungs, causing serious damage. Cleanup in meth labs needs to be handled by people who know how to protect themselves as they go through the cleanup. They also need to know how to remove every particle from surfaces and in the air so that the room is once again safe for habitation.
Homicides
Homicide scenes are usually very violent. What’s left behind is blood, body tissue, and bodily fluids. If the body has been there for a while, you’re also dealing with decomp. All of these substances contain pathogens that can be extremely damaging and or lethal to humans. It’s extremely critical that you work with a team that knows how to remove every single bit of waste from the site so that it doesn’t serve as a breeding ground for all types of pathogens.
Suicides
Suicides are often as violent as homicides depending on the method chosen. If it is a violent suicide, the cleanup techniques will be the same as those used for homicides. If a suicide is non-violent, biohazard cleaning techniques will still need to be employed. You may be wondering why biohazard cleaning is necessary if there’s simply a body left at the site but no other signs of waste. Bodies themselves are biohazards. If the person who committed suicide was sick, they could leave behind germs and bacteria that could then infect anyone entering the space. Sometimes suicides are not found right away. In these circumstances, decomp has an opportunity to set in. You now have decomp filled with infectious materials, and you also have the possibility of vermin and pests entering the space that have been attracted to the decomp.
Tear Gas
Tear gas is one of the most toxic chemical agents around. If you breathe it in, you can end up with respiratory issues that last a lifetime. After tear gas has been deployed, the particles simply don’t go away. They hang in the air and on the surfaces of the space where they were dispensed. Biohazard cleaning teams can go in and remove every bit of tear gas from the air, from cracks and crevices where it may have seeped, and from all surfaces. This will help ensure that anyone in the future entering the room remains safe.
Hoarder Houses
A hoarder house is another site where biohazard cleanup is necessary. Hoarder houses have tons of biohazardous waste and OPIM. Hoarder houses are filled with the accumulated junk and garbage collected by the hoarders he lives there. After a while, bathrooms and kitchens are no longer able to be used due to the sheer amount of junk located inside of them. Hygiene and sanitation practices are thrown out the window. This creates a space filled with all types of biohazardous waste, including human waste, animal waste, rotting garbage, and other substances. Biohazard teams must go in to clean hoarder houses because failure to do so means an increased risk of infection for future occupants of the space.
Give us a call if you’d like to talk about your potential biohazard cleanup project in San Mateo, California. We can help walk you through all of the steps and help you make your decision.
