A true-life challenge is the presence of some type of biohazard in your residence. In many different ways, your home is the ultimate sanctuary – and nothing is more of an invasion into that space that is some sort of biohazardous situation. When encountering a biohazard in your home, there are a number of issues you need to understand:
- What is a biohazard?
- What are the common types of residential biohazards?
- Why are biohazards dangerous?
- What is the biohazard cleaning process?
- What do I do to hire a biohazard cleaning company in Winchester, California?
What Is a Biohazard?
In basic terms, a biohazard is a dangerous substance of a biological nature. A biohazard has the capacity to cause a human being to suffer a serious, or even fatal, illness. The Mayo Clinic, a highly regarded medical center in the United States, advises that biohazards are grouped into one of four primary categories:
- Bacteria
- Viruses
- Other microorganisms
- Toxins
What Are Common Types of Residential Biohazards?
A variety of different occurrences of incidents can give rise to a biohazardous situation in a residential setting. With that noted, there are some types of biohazardous situations that more commonly occur in a residential setting. No matter the specific underlying cause of a residential biohazard, the fact is that these can all present potentially significant threats to human health and life. The more common types of residential biohazardous situations are:
- Accidental deaths
- Non-fatal traumatic accidents
- Suicides
- Attempted suicides
- Traumatic illnesses
- Drug overdoses
- Unattended deaths (or undiscovered deaths)
- Homicides
- Attempted homicides
- Other violent crimes
- Blood Spills
- Rodent Droppings
- Floods
- Raw sewage
- Hoarding
- Homeless encampments
Why Are Biohazards Dangerous?
Biohazards are dangerous because they consist of pathogens that can cause very serious diseases. An example helps to illustrate the point. Suppose an individual has a seriously traumatic accident of some sort in your home. Assume further that the incident has resulted in the presence of a great deal of blood at the scene of that incident.
If a person comes into contact with that blood without any protective gear in place, direct contact with the blood can result in the transfer of any bloodborne pathogens that might be present.
What Is the Biohazard Cleaning Process?
The biohazard cleaning process is designed to restore a contaminated home, business, or other location to a safe, pathogen-free status. Biohazard cleaning involves a trio of steps:
- Basic, thorough cleaning
- Sanitization
- Deodorization
The cleaning phase involves the physical removal of biohazardous matter present at the scene. In addition, any objects that are contaminated by biomatter but cannot be cleaned are also physically removed from the scene. Contaminated items that are incapable of being restored then have the biomatter removed and placed in an appropriate biohazardous waste container and transported to a biohazard disposal facility. These ancillary processes are undertaken by professionals duly authorized to transport or dispose of biohazardous materials.
The next part of the process of biohazard cleaning is sanitization. This involves the use of sanitizing agents that are specifically designed to eradicate dangerous, health-threatening pathogens like viruses or bacteria. This phase is of paramount concern and is crucial to ensuring that the premises are fully habitable when the process is over.
Finally, biohazard cleanup necessitates deodorization. In many cases of a biohazard in a home or business, the situation includes a tremendously foul stench. Raw sewage in a home or the discovery of an unattended death is a prime example. Thus, thorough deodorization is mandatory. This requires the use of powerful deodorizing agents.
What Do I Do to Hire a Biohazard Cleaning Company in Winchester, California?
There are several key factors to bear in mind when you are in need of a biohazard cleaning company in Winchester, California:
- You must make certain that a selected remediator has a specific background in taking on and cleaning up the type of biohazard you have at your residence or business.
- You need to make certain you understand the financial aspect of a job. There can be a significant difference in the fees charged from one biohazard cleaning company to another. With that said, you want to make sure you select a company that is committed to providing comprehensive, reliable services at a reasonable price.
- A reputable biohazard cleaning company will provide a firm, complete estimate before work begins.
- A reputable professional will bill for work when a job is over and you’ve had the opportunity to inspect the project and ensure it as fully completed.
- Finally, you will want to confirm that a Winchester biohazard cleaning company is appropriately insured and bonded.