Bio-hazard cleaning – why and what?

Mention the term bio-hazard, and we think of a risk to human health or the environment arising from biological work, especially with microorganisms. In simple words, if any living organism comes in contact with a biological hazard, it can pose a threat to its health.

We might know what a bio-hazard material is and what the causes are for it. But do you know what is involved in a bio-hazard clean-up?

If you do know (Great!), if not, then go ahead and read this blog.

When a bio-hazard clean-up takes place, the situation is completely assessed with caution and all items like carpet, furniture, wallpaper, etc. are removed and dealt with carefully. They get disposed in bio-hazard bags at a federal and state regulated site for disposal. If you think wearing a safety gear is enough to take up the task for a bio-hazard cleaning then you’re wrong, because no family member, colleague or regular cleaner are trained to deal with bio-hazardous situations. A professional however will have blood-borne pathogen (BBP) training, own protective gear, would be receiving regular inoculation of Hepatitis B vaccine and exposure evaluation.

Therefore bio-hazard cleaning is no layman task and requires well trained and equipped professionals. Bio Cleanse Services is a company dedicated to clean and remediate the affected area by following strict guidelines in the clean-up, removal and disposal of bio-hazardous/bio-medical waste.

So if you’re caught in a bio-hazard situation? Call Bio Cleanse at 042 741 1789 or visit our website: http://www.bio-cleanse.com.au/ . We are here to help

10 point checklist for a flooded home

The impact of a flood whether big or small, on homes and other properties can be quite devastating. If you ever find your home caught amidst a flood, do not panic. Call for restoration services of a professional cleaning company to repair the damaged property. However, immediate action will help to prevent any further damage including problems like mould.

Before the experts can reach your doorstep, there is a list of things you need to take care of:

1. Shut off the water supply. Avoid any further water damage from leaky appliances, broken pipes or blocked drains.
2. Before you begin to remove all electronic items and home appliances from wet areas, make sure the power supply is turned off.
3. Do not switch on the lights while working in areas affected by a flood.
4. Capture a few shots of the area prior to the restoration process as documentation for insurance purpose.
5. Wear protective gear before starting to clean the damaged area to prevent direct contact with contaminants.
6. To avoid stubborn stains on the carpet, place aluminium foil below furniture legs.
7. Lift curtains and pin up furniture skirts to keep them from coming in contact with wet flooring or carpets.
8. Remove delicate and high-value items that are prone to rust and corrosion immediately.
9. Dispose of food, utensils, and tableware that have been contaminated due to flood water.
10. Reach out to your insurance provider to claim for damages. 

After handling the flood damage till here, turn to the experts at Bio Cleanse Services. Call us on 0427411789 and let us take on the remediation procedure. Our technicians are highly trained and equipped with the best of equipment to ensure they restore your premises back to a clean and safe condition.

Steps in Meth Lab Cleaning

                                                   Pic credit: https://goo.gl/cBVKfg

Meth (methamphetamine) labs, used to make the illegal drug methamphetamine, turn up in houses, apartments, motel rooms, sheds, trailers and even motor vehicles. Any house that has been used to cook meth can still have the harmful chemicals present in the vicinity even though the cooking has stopped. Cleaning of meth labs is essential as the fumes contain toxic chemicals that give rise to a number of health problems like headaches, nausea, dizziness, breathing problems or respiratory irritation and, skin and eye irritation.

You need to get a thorough cleaning done before moving into the property. Here are some DIY tips to clean the place before asking for professional help.

1. First and foremost, determine if the property was used for meth lab cooking. And if so, to what extent? 
2. After being seized, the property is aired out, decontaminated and closed for security reasons by the professionals. This short term airing-out is not enough for the area. Therefore it is necessary to air out the area before and during the cleaning process. Air out the property for at least 3 to 5 days. 
3. Before starting any cleaning process, wear certified protective gear like gloves, goggles, and protective clothing. Respirators that offer protection against fumes are recommended. 
4. Get rid of all the unnecessary items and dispose them properly. 
5. Get rid of all the visibly contaminated objects or items that have odour. Most of the area in the vicinity of the cooking kit will be full of stains. Its best to get rid of it. 
6. All the surfaces need to be properly cleaned with adequate cleaning methods, keeping personal healthcare in mind. 
7. The ventilation system carries the air around in the house and particularly has most of the fumes sedimented. Cleaning the ventilation is very important before starting to reside in the premises. 
8. Leave the plumbing and any additional odour removal to the professionals. 

Meth lab cleaning is a complicated process involving the use of many counter chemicals in order to neutralize the effect of the existing chemicals used to cook meth. It is highly advisable to hire expert professionals for meth lab cleaning.

We, at Bio Cleanse Services, cover all aspects such as assessing the property, devising a solution, removal and disposal of hazardous chemicals, property cleanup, Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVACs), High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) vacuuming, decontamination and sanitisation of property and post sampling to ensure that it is chemical free and safe to occupy. Our service areas are Goulburn, Canberra, Batemans Bay and surrounding areas of NSW.

Death Cleanup

When death occurs, the family typically doesn't move out. It’s the job of the remediation service to remove any sign of incident. This is done to avoid any infection caused by the tragic circumstances.

The federal regulations consider all bodily fluids to be biohazards. Blood or tissue at a crime scene is considered to be a potential source of infection that could harm a living organism.

Biohazardous technicians have the knowledge to safely handle biohazardous material and to know what to look for at the scene. It’s necessary to call a biohazard company to deal with a suicide clean up. They are experts in handling various types of messy situations, violent deaths, animal-hoarding sites, meth labs, etc.

When a tragedy occurs these professional bioremediation technicians come well equipped with personal protective equipment. They then assess the situation and decide what equipment to use to make the site inhabitable once again.

This protective equipment includes: 

• Personal protective gear which is non-porous, the suits are one use suits with filtered respirators and safety gloves.
• Use of biohazard waste containers to dispose of the waste materials.
• Use of disinfectants to destroy viruses and microbes.
• Using industrial-strength deodorizers to eliminate bad odour after a disaster.
• Use of solvents to kill bacteria and viruses.
• Use of chemicals to kill broad spectrum bacteria.

The process of cleaning up a scene that involved a violent death, including suicide, needs to include these resources so that the remediation of the area goes beyond purely wiping up blood.

We at Bio Cleanse Services are specialized in death and trauma cleanup. We have helped thousands of families and businesses to reinstate their property in its pre-loss condition.

We know exactly how to deal with death and trauma with compassion, care, and communication. As a result, we can help alleviate some of the grief when such tragic circumstances occur. Call us on 0412547547 to avail of our services.

Keeping the Toilet and Bathroom Clean

Did you know that the toilet is one of the high-humidity areas in the house? Due to the amount of water in the cistern, it is prone to germs breeding there.

Bacteria can be found in the toilet bowl, on the floor, in the flush and even on the door handle. It is important to know that every time you flush the toilet, bacteria is projected up to 1.5m high into the air and covers all the surrounding surfaces. Bacteria can even land on your toothbrush if your toilet is in the bathroom.

Types of bacteria found in the toilet/bathroom

Microorganisms, bacteria, viruses, & pathogens on bathroom surfaces can survive for up to a week or more. Some of the bacteria commonly found in the toilet are listed below :

•    Gastrointestinal viruses that like Norovirus cause stomach ailments in humans and are easily transmitted.

•    Enteric pathogens, are organisms usually spread by contaminated foods but are also carried in faeces.  E. coli, salmonella, shigella, and campylobacter are some examples of these pathogens. An infected person can suffer severe diarrhoea with bloody stools.

•    Skin and respiratory organisms include the staphylococcus aureus (staph) bacteria. They also include the antibiotic-resistant MRSA strain, and Group A Strep, also known as ‘flesh-eating’ bacteria.

•    Dermatophitic fungi causes infections like athlete's foot which is transmitted by walking barefoot in the bathroom.

•    Residual fungi like mould and mildew that can grow in shower areas don't usually cause infection. However, it can aggravate illnesses like asthma and allergies.

Keeping a toilet and bathroom clean as well as practicing good hygiene helps in lowering the risk of infections and preventing illness affecting the aging and unhealthy individuals.

Here are some useful tips and advice to help you maintain a clean toilet and bathroom.

•    A clean bathroom requires daily wiping of surfaces and weekly deep cleaning.

•    Use cleaning products specifically designed for toilet/bathroom.

•    Direct contact areas like the flush and taps as they are breeding grounds for bacteria should be cleaned with extra care.

•    Clean the toilet brush properly.

•    In order to reduce the spread of bacteria in the room, flush the toilet with the toilet lid down.

•    Preferably use a push-pump soap dispenser which doesn't allow bacteria to collect. Wash hands thoroughly every time you use the toilet.

•    Ensure the ventilation system is working and air the toilet to reduce the level of humidity.

Are you faced with a messy and dirty toilet and bathroom, and are in need of a professional cleanup? Bio Cleanse Services has trained, qualified and specialized cleaning technicians.  We ensure a thorough cleaning & decontamination of all affected areas.

Call us now on 0412 547 547 for Sydney, Canberra, Goulburn and NSW areas.

Visit http://www.bio-cleanse.com.au/services/urine-and-faeces-clean-up/ to know more.

Tips for Fire Safety During the Fall Season

With the daylight becoming shorter and leaves taking a new form of green to orange, you’re preparing for the cold season and all the exciting festivities. But are you really prepared? Here are a few important fire safety tips to keep in mind:

Replace smoke/carbon detector batteries and test the alarms. It’s advisable to change your smoke and carbon monoxide detector batteries when Daylight Savings Time begins and ends. This ensures the alarms don’t fail when you turn on the heat in your home. Once the batteries are changed don’t forget to test the smoke alarms. Ensure all the fire extinguishers are in working condition.

Before cranking up the heat, have your heating devices fully checked:

• Have a certified HVAC contractor inspect your HVAC system. Check and replace furnace filters with High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters.
• Ensure sufficient space of at least three to four feet around space heaters. Don’t place fabrics on space heaters to dry, and turn heaters off every night before bed.
• Have a professional chimney sweep to inspect and clean your chimney. Keep flammable objects at least three feet away from the fireplace and install a mesh metal screen around it.

Halloween safety – Excited to decorate your home and mastermind scary costumes for Halloween? Don’t forget the safety aspects. Ensure considerable distance between decorations and open flames and other heat sources, and replace candles in jack-o-lanterns with battery-operated lights. We strongly advise you not to use real candles for decorating your home, but if you do, follow utmost care.

Outdoor fire risks – Periodically remove the leaves and other flammable debris that builds up around the house. Prune trees and rake up leaves and twigs. Avoid fuel storage in your home or garage. Clean your roof, gutters, and downspouts of debris and drain the fuel from lawn mowers before storing them for winter.

See also:  Safety with Flammable Liquids at Home 

Formulate a fire escape plan and make sure everyone in the house is well aware of it. In case a fire breaks out at 2 AM and your smoke alarms wake you and your family up – what do you do? This is when the fire escape plan comes into play. Designate an escape route for each area of your home and establish a meeting place outside. Practice escaping your home while staying low to avoid breathing in smoke. Also, practice escaping through windows using emergency ladders.

We, at Bio Cleanse Services, have an expert team of fire damage restoration technicians. If you ever face a fire incident in your home/office, contact us on 0427 411 789 for property remediation.

How to detect odour

    Pic Credit: https://goo.gl/8wGwur

Does your home smell funny? Can't really figure out what it is, but it's a bad odour that has been lingering for a while. Unpleasant musty odours are a common cause of indoor air quality complaints. This could be the most challenging issue to solve.

Identifying the source of odour within the environments could be a difficult task. Odour in offices, buildings or homes may arise right from the simplest things like plain soil to more complex things like biological materials.

Indoor odours can be caused due to:

•     Poor maintenance of ventilation, heating and air conditioning systems

•     Dampness caused due to moisture

•     Electrical odours caused due to overheating of the electrical units

•     Carpet, paint and surface coatings

•     Rodents and animals piddling

•     Chemical/fuel spills or gas leakage

•     Unattended deaths and carcasses

Mould odour is more common in households nowadays. It can grow where there's excess moisture, such as water leaks in rooftops, pipes, and walls. Mould odour has a pungent smell. They start growing in patches and can be hidden behind walls or wallpapers.

Indoor and outdoor contaminated air odour arising from biological materials like smoke, contaminates, urine, faeces, mould and human decomposition are some of the obnoxious odours. One needs to be very cautious as these could lead to discomfort, severe headache,  and other respiratory problems. Getting rid of substances like these using traditional methods is troublesome.

The need for professional help is necessary with appropriate training and equipment to identify and eliminate these offensive odours. By identifying the root cause and determining the conditions which caused the odour, it can often be eliminated over time without a trace.

If you ever come across such a situation, contact us by visiting our website: http://www.bio-cleanse.com.au/services/odour-control/ or call – 0427 411 789 to schedule an appointment.