When people think about biohazard cleanup, they often think about some type of hazardous chemical or perhaps a crime scene. However, at Bio-One® Augusta, we are called in for a wide range of biohazard cleanup jobs and often we are helping families during the most challenging times of their lives.
Types Of Hazardous Materials
Anything that can pose a threat to a human being can be considered a hazardous material. After all, even household cleaners can be dangerous if ingested or, in some cases, the fumes can be dangerous. However, when we talk about biohazard remediation, we typically mean one of the following materials:
Human Bodily Fluids – There are many bloodborne pathogens, and blood and other bodily fluids can transmit a wide range of viruses (HIV, hepatitis, COVID-19) or bacteria (MRSA, E-Coli, salmonella, etc.)
Human & Animal Waste – Urine and feces from either humans or animals also can transmit disease. In homeless encampments, death cleanup and hoarding cleanup situations, we often remove human waste as well as rat dropping or pet waste.
Hazardous Chemicals – Hundreds of chemicals pose a danger to humans, and OSHA defines a chemical as hazardous if it poses a threat to your health, such as a toxin that could affect your lungs, skin or eyes. In some cases, the chemical or compound might be hazardous because it is flammable or explosive. These are just a few examples of what might constitute a hazardous chemical or substance.
When Should You Call Bio-One® Augusta?
If your home or facility has been contaminated by hazardous materials, it’s always best to use a professional biohazard cleanup service. Likewise, if a person dies, such as an unattended death or suicide, a professional should be called. Handling biohazardous material on your own is never a good idea.
Businesses must adhere to OSHA rules regarding biohazard situations and cleanup, so for a landlord/property owner or business owner, it’s always best to contact a professional cleanup service. Failure to properly clean up after an accident can result in fines and even set you up for lawsuits for negligence.
Proper biohazard cleaning requires the use of personal protective equipment as well as special OSHA-approved cleaners and equipment. Additionally, we ensure that all hazardous materials are removed from the area. In some cases, this requires removing furniture and other items, as well as removing carpet, padding, flooring and drywall. None of this should be handled by a family member, business owner or employee.
Additionally, for a family member, friend or even a landlord or boss, attempting to clean up after a traumatic event isn’t something you should have to handle. When a loved one has died, we can provide compassionate, discrete cleanup services and complete these tasks as quickly as possible for your peace of mind.
When it comes to hoarding cleanup, this can be a horrific ordeal for families and landlords, and highly emotional. Hiring a biohazard cleaning company not only ensures complete biohazard remediation but also can lessen the grief of a difficult situation.
Our Biohazard Cleaning Services Include:
What To Expect: Fast & Compassionate Services
While some biohazard situations are more emotional than others, we know that any type of accident or hazardous situation can be stressful, so first and foremost you can expect compassionate services from the whole Bio-One® team. We understand that this is a difficult time, and do our best to be helpful, kind and discrete and work as quickly as possible to complete the cleanup.
We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year. There is never a time when we aren’t available to help you with biohazard cleanup, so whether you need crime scene cleaners, suicide cleanup or there’s been a traumatic accident at your home or place of business, we are always here to help.
We work with all major insurance companies as well, so you don’t need to worry about paying upfront for our services. We understand that this is a trying time, and we do our best to limit paperwork and other minutiae at the time of service to make the cleanup process as easy as possible for our clients.
When we arrive at the scene, our first step is to complete an OSHA-mandated assessment of the area. We then secure the area and limit access to ensure that there is no cross-contamination of hazardous materials. The next step is to remove all traces of biological materials and other biohazards. After all biohazardous material has been removed, we disinfect and deodorize the area.
Our Service Area
As our name suggests, we serve the entire Augusta metro area and all of Richmond County. Our service area also includes Aiken, Barnwell, Burke, Columbia, Edgefield, Jefferson, Lincoln and McDuffie counties. If you need any type of biohazard cleanup, please don’t hesitate to give us a call at (706) 305-5029. We are here to help 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
For many cleanup tasks, it’s often wise to opt for professional hazmat cleaning services. While some cleanups can be handled by maid services or even by homeowners, there are times when hiring a pro is the best and safest option. At August Bio-One®, we can provide you with many different types of hazmat cleanup.
We are called in to provide hazmat cleaning services for a wide range of situations. For instance, we often provide crime scene cleanup, suicide cleanup services or unattended death cleanup services. When these types of traumatic events occur it’s important the any blood and bodily fluids are completely removed, and that we clean and disinfect any contaminated surfaces.
In some cases, we will need to dispose of carpeting and carpet pads, mattress and even remove drywall to ensure that all biohazardous materials are removed. Of course, we always do our best to preserve any personal items when possible.
While removing blood borne pathogens and other potentially infectious materials is a common task for a hazmat cleaning company, we also are sometimes called in to clean up chemical contaminants, such as tear gas, or chemical spills. Tear gas (and many other chemicals) cannot simply be cleaned up with water or typical cleaning products.
Additionally, we often are called in to provide professional odor removal services or even rodent dropping cleanup or dead animal removal. There are many odors that simply cannot be removed using typical cleaning methods, so it can be wise to contact a professional for severe odor issues.
In general, none of these cleanup tasks should be handled by homeowners or landlords or a typical maid service. For professional biohazard cleanup services, we use special OSHA-approve cleaners and cleaning methods, and our crew also wears personal protective equipment to ensure safety.
Additionally, while it’s not safe for family or landlords to try and clean up potentially hazardous materials, it’s also can take a huge toll on your mental health. We often are called in to handle trauma cleanup after horrible tragedies have occurred and loved ones (and even landlords) should not have to handle these types of tasks. It’s important to note that we can provide hazmat cleaning services at just about any location, including residences and commercial properties, inside or outside. We also can provide hazmat cleanup for vehicles. Whether a tragedy has occurred or perhaps you need odor removal services after an animal dies in your car (this is quite common), we can help.
Hoarding cleaning services are a unique type of hazmat clean up. This process can take longer to handle, depending on the size of the property and the scope of the hoarding situation.
Hoarder cleaning services require a team that not only understands how to provide complete biohazard remediation, but also a team that understands that this is a highly emotional situation. We will work with your family and provide compassionate, caring cleanup services and do our best to preserve any important personal items, if possible.
We know it can be difficult for a person to come to terms with their hoarding disorder and we have handled many of these cleanup jobs. It’s tough, but once we’ve restored order and disinfected the dwelling, it can make it much easier for a person to recover from this mental health issue.
Of course, safety is the most important factor, and our biohazard cleaning crews ensure that all contaminants are removed, including dead animals, rodent droppings, mold, mildew and any other hazardous materials.
This is another unique situation that necessitates a high level of expertise and compassion. Homeless encampments often require everything from feces and urine cleanup to needle and narcotics removal. Our goal is to ensure that the community’s safety needs are met, but we also want to treat these unsheltered people with as much dignity as possible and handle their belongings with care.
Depending on the situation, our crew has a myriad of personal protective equipment and cleaning equipment at their disposal. This includes protective suits and non-porous gloves, chemical-resistant boots and respirators or N95 masks, depending on the situation.
We also use special types of solvents and special containers and bags created to safely store biohazard materials. Other equipment we can use includes special brushes that can access hard-to-reach locations, fogging machines to aid with odor removal and equipment to help us remove carpeting and flooring. We also take pictures of the area before and after the cleanup is complete as this will be needed by the insurance company.
When a tragedy occurs, the last thing family members need to handle is wrangling with an insurance company. We know that you have enough on your mind, and we will handle the interaction with your insurance company. We work with most major carriers and can open the claim and work directly with the adjusters.
At Augusta Bio-One® we are available to provide hazmat cleaning services at anytime night or day. You can call us 24/7 and 365 days a year at (706) 305-5029, and we will provide you with fast, comprehensive and compassionate biohazard cleaning services.
The roots of crime- and trauma-scene cleaning companies can be traced to the 1990s, and at that time only a dozen or so companies existed. The industry was widely unregulated and awareness of contamination risks were relatively non-existant.
"I was young and dumb and saw something you only see in movies, so I quickly shut the door, took a deep breath, sat on the couch with the widow and told everyone else to get her out of here and take her to lunch, and we’ll clean this up for her," said Nick-Anthony Zamucen, Founder of Bio-One Inc. "We were just trying to help a lady in her greatest time of need, and that’s for me how I got into the crime scene and cleaning business." Read Nick's story in Franchise Times.
Today, there are hundreds of companies that advertise crime and trauma scene cleaning, and a simple Google search may prove overwhelming when you're experiencing one of the most traumatic moments in your life. To help, we've listed pre-qualifying questions to ask before choosing a crime and trauma scene company.
Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Crime and Trauma Scene Cleaner
There are a number of key questions to ask crime and trauma scene cleaning technicians or business owners to properly root out which one is best for your goals and circumstances.
Last but certainly most important, make sure the business you speak with shows care and compassion for your situation. They should want to do everything possible to support you and your loved ones.
If you are searching for a crime and trauma scene cleaner, Bio-One is here for you. All of our offices adhere to our business motto Help First, Business Second and are available 24/7. Click here to search for a Bio-One team near you.
Lives in the Atlanta area were forever altered on Tuesday, March 16, 2021 after a shooting spree at three metro Atlanta spas left eight people, including six Asian women, dead within the span of 45 minutes.
Our hearts and sympathies are with everyone impacted by this tragedy.
We sincerely hope businesses never experience these types of events, because that means it’s the worst day of their lives. However, Bio-One teams are ready 24/7 in the event biohazard remediation services are needed.
Two weeks after the tragic events in Atlanta took place, Bio-One answered the call to remediate the spa in Cherokee County. Led by Michele O'Brien and Rebecca Phillips, the Bio-One team provided a quick response and thorough decontamination.
“When we walked into the spa, it was like time stopped,” said Phillips. “Things were there just like a normal day and then chaos happened. It was a heavy feeling, and we appreciate the opportunity to help.”
Previously, Bio-One has been trusted to remediate several mass shooting tragedies including Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay, Pulse Nightclub, the San Bernardino schools and Sandy Hook.
