I currently own a carpet cleaning business. I am interested in crime scene clean up. What training/certifications do I need to get started? What do I need as far as insurance? What type of specialized equipment will I need?
I been interested in this as well..At the last seminari went to they said you have to have Blood borne pathogens certification..I don't know what else but i would like to know.
There is a lot to comply with and it is all based off OSHA. This industry falls under the Health Care work rules and guild lines s well as a few other OSHA guidelines such as Confined Space and Lock Out Tag Out. Getting the Blood Born Pathogen is just a small piece of the puzzle. Also, there is record keeping requirements that in some cases require lift time retainment. Regarding the state requirements I believe it all depends on your state. Some require permits and licensing where others do not require a thing. My friend in NY has to have the building where his operation will be approved. Insurance is another major factor... it is not cheap at all and only a few specialty companies will write it. Workers Comp is stupid to say the least! When it comes to equipment the big ticket items other than the vehicle(s) will be a Steam Cleaner, Ozone Generator or Hydroxly Generator. There will also be several little tools and some specialty tools and power tools. You do not want and should not cross use the tools and depending on the material of the tools they are one time use. EVERYTHING has to be decontaminated or thrown out at the end of the job. Hope this helps, but this industry is not an easy one to get into and do it right. Here are some links that may help further... http://americanbiorecovery.com/ http://www.nidstraining.com/index.html
thank you for the help. I am concerend about who i should contact first. who can tell me what licenses i need in pa. will one of those courses tell me all i need to know about licenses, insurance, disposal ect.... not to mention how do i get the work is it just a matter of going to police, paramedic, firehouses and the coroners office? there is so much to this!
Steamers... anywhere from just a couple of hundred for a cheap unit up to $10,000. So this is up to you. The Ozone Gens are around around $800 to $1000. The Hydroxly Gens are around $2000 to $5000. Then all the PPE, this all depends on the quality. So to say you need X and it will cost you $Y is tough to do. Just like with carpet cleaning you can do it cheaply and have a small portable or have a $30,000 truck mount doing to work for you. Sorry if I am of not much help. Flagship, that is exactly how you get work, marketing and more marketing. The course that NIDS offers covers this for the owners on the last day. However neither one of those links will more than likely have state regulatory answers for you. ABRA is more like the industries IICRC and it more concerned with educations for the techs and working OSHA safety manuals and insurance coverage for the companies. NIDS, is one of the schools that offer training and in fact the owner/instructor founded ABRA. So he is very knowledgeable, but he will probably not have specific state rules and regulations, but he may know about PA but more than likely not. I would suggest starting with your state's department of health. http://www.portal.health.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/department_of_health_home/17457 It may take several calls and transfers before you get to a person that will have answers for you. I would also check with your country and city for rules and regulations. Sure hope this helps you! Rick
Had a friend in it here for a few years and finally sold all their stuff. They were fully certified and equipped. Were in with all the agencies, fire, police, govt. agencies. Got 1 call in 2 years. They went after it the right way but like meth cleanup nobody would pay for the service. They would just hire some cheap janitorial or illegals to do it.
well Scottie thats not very encouraging. lol. Can anyone who does this tell me if it is worth doing as a full time job r is this more of an add on service for my current company?
flagship... that also depends on your area/city. Some cities have tons of companies offering this service where other cities do not. (do research for area) It also depends on how far you are willing to travel. So... these are all factors. I would suggest adding it on to your existing business services. But I would use caution on how you market the two, the last thing you want is people thinking the tools cleaning their home were used in a bio-hazard clean up. When it comes to Meth Lab clean up I would suggest not getting involved. That is truly a limited market in the sense that if the lab just happens to be in a high dollar home then the banks/insurance companies have a truly vested interest and they will be more willing to cover the clean-up. But most cases where this is a lab the house is a POS to begin with and bank/insurance companies will not cover any criminal activity clean-up. The same thing holds true for murders, depending on who commits the act and who is on the home owner's policy. Getting the Meth Lab clean-up education will be a nice addition but do not expect to get much work that pays. Payment will have to be determined before any work is started and if no one has answers and wants to put it in writing simply drive away and wish them luck.
