Crime Scene Cleanup Jobs

Persons who are present at the crime scene, include the police, the forensic investigator and sometimes the fire service people. Cleaning up after the crime was usually done by the family of the victim, or the local police authority. But, nowadays, there are professionals specialized in crime scene cleanup jobs, who are hired to do the cleaning. These cleanup professionals have to approach the crime scene with care; especially in case any evidence is found, they should know how to preserve the same.

Crime Scene Cleaners

A crime scene is a place, where a crime has been committed, resulting in death or a fatally wounded victim. Crime scene cleaners work at messy crime scenes, that have blood and other fluids, along with body remains.

Crime scene cleaners not only eliminate and dispose of hazardous waste, but also carry out restoration services. They also deal with bio-loads, which are microbes present in the environment and dispersed after the crime, which need to be cleaned through stringent cleaning. The cleaners are not permitted to handle the dead in any way, nor are they allowed to be involved in the investigation or any legal process. They have to deal with blood and human remains with a detached frame of mind, but still be sensitive towards the family of the victim.

Crime scene cleaners have to undergo a blood pathogen training to qualify as cleaners. They have to adhere to OSHA guidelines, while working. They require a special permit or a practicing license that authorizes them to remove, pack and dispose off bio-hazardous waste. According to US Federal regulations, all body fluids including blood, tissue or body remains found at a crime scene are considered as a source of infection and deemed as bio-hazards.

Cleanup Jobs at Crime Scene

The requirement of a cleaning agent at the crime scene has resulted in a profitable industry of crime cleanup jobs. Crime scene cleanup jobs have created an organized market for the cleaning industry, in the recent years. The cleanup companies, also fulfill the need of a cleaning house and do all kinds regular cleaning jobs for residential, commercial, and industrial environments.

Crime scene cleanup jobs are also known as CTS Decon (crime and trauma scene decontamination), which involves decontaminating crime scenes. The types of jobs that are performed by the cleanup companies are:

• Blood cleanup
• Specialty cleaning
• Crime scene cleanup
• Decontamination services
• Bio-hazard cleaning
• Medical waste disposal

A supervisor or a leader from the crew makes an assessment of the scene, taking into account the full extent of the cleaning. Thorough cleaning of the room needs to be undertaken which includes the furniture, the walls and even the ceiling, along with any other object found in the vicinity of the scene. At times, they have to even go to the extent of scraping the skull to remove brain fragments, and disinfect blood-spattered areas. This job requires the ability to withstand emotionally grueling conditions, arising out of handling blood, bodily fluids and other human remains.

Crime Scene Cleanup Compensation

Crime scene cleaners use protective gear consisting of a whole body bio-hazard suit that covers every part of their body, and a respirator to avoid infection by pathogens or bio-hazardous materials found at every crime scene. They are equipped with heavy duty plastic bags that are used to collect the bio-hazardous material and cleaning equipment like mops and sponges, disinfectants, ionizer to remove the odors, knives and other scraping tools. They carry restoration tools which include sledgehammers, saws, spackle, paint brushes, cameras for video shooting the crime scene before and after the cleanup job and transportation for disposing off the waste. Crime scene cleaners are paid $100 to $600 an hour, based on the intensity of the crime and the volume of the bio-hazardous material found at the scene of the crime. In some cases, they may charge $1,000 to $3,000 for cleaning rooms with excessive blood and body remains.

Crime scene professionals are well-paid; however, the working conditions deter people from choosing this job as a career. The grotesqueness found at every crime scene is not a very comfortable situation that most would like to find themselves in. So, anyone who is considering a crime scene cleanup job should think twice before taking it up.