Crime scene cleanup is a term applied to any situation involving biological cleaning, i.e. homicides, suicides, human decompositions, pack rat houses and etc.
Television productions like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation have added to the popularity of the term Crime Scene Cleanup. Australia, Canada, and England have added the term to their professional cleaning terminology.
The generic terms for Crime Scene Cleanup include trauma cleaning, biorecovery, crime and trauma scene decontamination, CTS Decon, blood cleanup and bio cleaning. The State of California refers to individuals that practice this work as a profession a Trauma Scene Waste Management Practitioners.
A crime scene cleanup may involve a single blood loss event following a burglary, battery, or homicide. Companies also clean suicides, unattended deaths, teargas damaged environments, and other crime and trauma scenes. Larger crime scenes involve terrorist attacks, mass murder scenes, and the cleanup of anthrax and other biochemicals.
Crime Scene Cleanup companies may also clean bird and rodent infested areas referred to as "unsanitary dwellings," "packrat houses," and "filthy houses". The Crime Scene Cleaners' experience and equipment more suits this type of cleaning than a typical cleaning company's.[1] Besides the Federal Government's OSHA standards, many state Health, OSHA or EPA departments have created similar standards and regulations. Similarly, the Center for Disease Control establishes standards and regulations for working with blood soiled environments as well as exposure reporting.