Is Blood Cleanup in Your Job Description?

Joe MayBodily Fluids, Remediation

Cleaning Up Blood Bio Recovery door blood 2

Cleaning Up Blood

Anyone who grew up watching ER or Grey’s Anatomy might get the impression that doctors and patients alike get covered in spilled (or spurting) blood on any given day.

“Real life” Medical professionals—not those who just play doctors on TV—will tell you true stories about treating workplace injury patients, suicides, and victims of violent crime. While they’ll roll their eyes at the overdramatization of popular hospital shows, they don’t argue that unbelievable things do happen, and sometimes they involve a lot of blood.

Cleaning Up Blood in Medical Facilities

If you’ve worked in the medical field long enough, you’ll hear firsthand horror stories of blood bag spikes slipping out for no reason, creating all-out scene recreations from Carrie. It’s happened on Grey’s Anatomy, and it happens in real life.

Once the shock and gross-out factor subsides and the medical pros remember that packaged blood is “clean”, everyone goes about their business. Someone grabs a blood cleanup kit, and everything goes into a biohazard bag. A larger hospital might have its own special incinerator, or they contract with a biohazard transport company that removes the materials to an off-site, OSHA-approved disposal facility.

Even medical professionals call in biohazard specialists

Medical facilities, pathology labs, and even blood donation centers experience accidental or incidental issues related to uncontained bodily fluids. Larger spills often require the services of OSHA-certified blood cleanup, especially when bodily fluids infiltrate multiple surfaces, and hospital staff don’t have the time or training to fully remediate biohazard residues.

Not all spilled blood is “clean”. Blood that comes directly from patients—not out of a bag—may contain common and very serious bloodborne pathogens known to remain viable outside the body for longer than two weeks.

Ambulances, waiting rooms, emergency units, and operating rooms are common sites for uncontained and possibly pathogenic blood… and not all surfaces are so easy to wipe down with disinfectant and a few paper towels. That’s where professional biohazard removal companies come in.

Blood Cleanup in the Commercial or Industrial Workplace

If medical facilities—which have their own very specific blood handling protocols—often rely on contractors who know how to clean up blood and bodily fluids to the satisfaction of OSHA standards, do you think you’re properly equipped if one of your employees experiences an industrial workplace traumatic injury?

To be blunt, on-the-job injuries can continue long after the actual blood spills. Workplace injuries might leave behind secondary risks from bloodborne pathogens, and OSHA’s standards for biohazard remediation might be beyond the emotional and technological capabilities of you or your staff.

Do you know how to clean up blood spills? OSHA requirements are very specific, and you’ll need to be prepared with the right cleaning fluids, protocols and containment systems… all in the 24 hour period OSHA requires for cleanup completion.

After a traumatic incident involving one of your workers, which of your staff will you leave in charge of cleaning up blood spills? Workplace morale is likely on the floor. Your employees are upset, and possibly in need of trauma counseling, if not the day off. As for you and your managers, you’re likely doing your best to make sure the injured employee and her family are looked after, and let’s face it: You might have a mountain of paperwork and a list of agencies to call to make sure you’re in compliance… insurance, unions, OSHA, you name it.

You take worker safety seriously

You know you don’t want to clean up the workplace so that it looks better when your employees return. You want to make sure it’s once again a safe environment, free of secondary health risks and “surprise” residue or human tissue found when ventilation systems get their annual cleaning, or when shop fixtures and equipment get shuffled around.

After a commercial or industrial accident, your employees are very preoccupied with their own safety and the risks involved with working at your company. Reassure them and regain their confidence by contracting a professional biohazard cleanup service.

Blood Cleanup in the Private Sector

Imagine you’re a first responder. You’re attending the scene of a suicide or a serious injury, and once the scene is secure and everyone is able to take a deep breath, you take a look around. Most likely, there’s a shaken family member or the victim of a violent crime wondering, “what now?”

You got into this line of work because you want to help people… but you know that your mother’s advice for using hot water and a little bit of salt to get rid of blood stains won’t apply when the survivors want to know how to clean up blood from carpet. You feel for them, knowing they’re going to have a lot to deal with in the near future.

They may never be able to completely recover from the day’s events, but knowing how to clean up blood without leaving a trace will go a long way to putting things right again. And sometimes, knowing how means knowing who to call for help.

This is why many police officers, paramedics, and fire captains keep contact information for helpful resources at hand. They might have handout from victim advocacy groups, or the local Red Cross chapter.

They might also have business cards from trusted biohazard cleanup companies such as Bio Recovery.

We’ve Got This

We’re a nationwide company licensed and highly-qualified to step in when your employees shouldn’t be expected to handle blood and bodily fluid cleanup.

If you’ve just survived a horrible experience, you shouldn’t have to know how to clean up blood from a crime scene in your home without further traumatizing yourself or your loved ones.

And if you’re a medical professional, you already face risks every day from needle sticks, out-of-control patients, and the stress of long hours… all without the perks of making out with hot doctors or nurses in empty exam rooms.

Blood cleanup is in our wheelhouse. Bio Recovery protects you and your staff, helps you stay compliant with OSHA regulations, and lets you and your employees move forward… whether they need to heal themselves, or they’re in the business of healing others.