CLEANING
clean up would be put at risk. Sites with an excessive amount of animal faeces can be very infectious and pose considerable risk of illness if not properly handled. Along with the difficulties associated with removing the fecal matter, strong odours may also be left behind and the site needs to be thoroughly deodorised.
At trauma scene clean ups or crime scenes, often you cannot see the true extent of the contamination. Even areas with what can initially seem to be a small area of blood can have a greater spread of contamination that is not visible to the naked eye. If you are a family member, property owner or FM responsible for the cleanup of a trauma scene, it is important to remember that, in order to protect the current and future occupants of a property, bio hazardous materials like blood must be identified and properly treated, as if not treated in accordance with specific procedures they can pose a serious health risk.
Only with thorough training can you determine the true extent of bio hazardous risk at a trauma scene. Once the level of contamination has been determined, only then can the work begin to thoroughly remove every last trace of infectious blood, body fluids and any other materials that have been uncovered. It is also a legal requirement that
all contaminated materials are treated as bio hazard waste and disposed of accordingly. So, any trauma situations like this need to be dealt with meticulously, not only to ensure safety but to make sure that businesses aren’t breaking the law.
“We were faced with knee- deep faeces and urine which had to be shoveled out of the property.”
Other specialist cleaning jobs where extra care needs to be taken are scenarios often facing local authorities and frontline workers, when clean ups of public places such as parks, alley ways and empty properties have areas inhabited by drug users. In these environments there can be a variety of blood-borne viruses left behind by intravenous drug users, like HIV and hepatitis.
As well as bodily fluids lying on surfaces and flooring, there are other hazards to be aware of including the actual drug paraphernalia like hypodermic syringes or ‘sharps’ – razor blades and any number of other items that may cause a puncture or laceration. These sharps can result in potential exposure to viruses and pose a clear risk to the general public. A thorough
clean up along with safe removal and disposal of these items is a potentially dangerous undertaking not to be taken lightly and needs to be carried out correctly in full accordance with current health and safety, government and Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) procedures.
Whether you are a social landlord, a parks owner or the owner of a property where a crime has taken place, it is essential that the cleanup is undertaken by professionals with the right training, the correct materials and, of course, safety equipment. To not do so can put you or your employees in danger of disease and at risk of potential prosecution if not cleaned up in the right way.
So if you don’t have this type of individual within your organisation, it may be the time to call in the professionals as, believe me, the men and women in the extreme cleaning business come face to face with the grimmest and grimiest of jobs every day and, if they are anything like me, will enjoy the challenges we face and the results that we can achieve.
www.specialisedcleaningservices.co.uk
www.tomorrowsfm.com
TOMORROW’S FM | 27
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