Most of us have cleaned up blood resulting from a minor injury at home or in the workplace. When it's little more than a few drops on a countertop or smooth floor, the problem's easily solved. 

But what if the blood spill is significant enough to seep through textiles, joinery, grout, and even wall surfaces?

How do you know if you've done a thorough job locating and neutralizing blood droplets that can harbor dangerous pathogens?

Are you equipped and ready to approach a difficult project in a manner that prevents further contamination or risk to yourself, your employees, or your loved ones?

If you've found your way to our blog, you're probably—and understandably—uncertain that you're ready for a safe blood removal job. That's why there are professional companies like ours that clean up after accidents, injuries, trauma, and death, often with little or no out-of-pocket costs to insured property owners or tenants.

Blood, human tissue, and body fluid cleanup require specialized cleaning products, protective clothing, and adherence to OSHA standards. This is especially true when the incident occurred at a public facility or workplace. 

The main objectives are isolating, cleaning, and legally disposing of blood and other bio-hazardous material so that the location is safe for residents, employees, customers, and the public.

Bloodborne pathogens can remain viable on surfaces for days after the incident, infecting anyone who inhales, ingests, or comes into physical contact with blood, tissue, and body fluids left behind. This is of particular concern if the blood came from a person infected with one of the following diseases: 

• Hepatitis B (HBV)
• Hepatitis C (HCV)
• Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
• Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

In severe trauma cases, tissue and waste solids may contain other dangerous diseases, including E. coli, Hepatitis A (HAV), Clostridium difficile (C. diff), and Candida auris. 

Blood soaked into surfaces or structural materials can attract rodents and insect pests, foster dangerous mold and bacterial growth, and cause odors that aren't easily covered up or neutralized with consumer-grade cleaning products. These secondary hazards can wreak havoc on property values or worse, human and pet respiratory systems.

Blood can leak or spray far beyond the initial trauma site, leaving unpleasant surprises when cabinets and drawers are later opened, furniture is moved, or heating and cooling systems are activated. 

Whatever the cause of the biohazard spill, it's up to the property owner or tenant to clean up after first responders and investigators have left the scene. Household or commercial cleaning services typically refuse to clean up after significant blood spills out of concern for their staff's safety and liability to yours. 

That leaves you with two options: Do it yourself, or call a professional biohazard team—sometimes known as a crime scene cleanup company—to step in and get the job done right the first time.

Blood spills can occur anywhere, but there are some locations where a large percentage tend to occur. These are a few of those locations: