Blood or other bodily fluid in Kingston is cleaned up safely by an independent biohazard cleanup company whose crew wears protective equipment, removes materials that cannot be fully cleaned, disinfects what remains, and sends the waste away through a permitted hauler. If a death or possible crime is involved, police or the Kitsap County Medical Examiner’s Office1 must release the area first; otherwise, you can contact a company when you are ready. Biohazard Network connects you with an independent local company that you hire directly; we do not do the cleanup.
If you are here after a fall, an injury at home, a medical emergency or an expected death, you have already had a hard day. This page explains what the work involves and what to ask, so you can decide calmly.
What this cleanup involves
A biohazard is any biological material, such as blood, that can carry germs harmful to people. Blood and other bodily fluids can carry bloodborne pathogens, which are germs such as hepatitis B that spread through contact with infected blood.
The bigger concern is what you cannot see. Porous materials are materials with tiny openings that soak up liquid, such as carpet padding, mattresses, upholstery, drywall and unsealed wood. Fluid can pass through the top layer, so a spot that looks clean may still be contaminated underneath.
The same is true beyond the home. Car seats and floor carpet absorb fluid, and so do office chairs, carpet tiles and cubicle panels in shops and workplaces.
If it happened at your business
Please do not ask employees to clean it up. Blood can carry disease, and the work calls for training and protective equipment. Close off the area, keep staff and customers away, and contact a cleanup company that handles workplaces.
What happens first
If anyone still needs medical help, that comes first. After a fall or a household accident with no death and no crime, there may be no outside office to wait for.
If someone has died, a medical examiner, an appointed official who investigates certain deaths, may be involved. The Kitsap County Medical Examiner’s Office1 investigates all sudden, unexpected, or unnatural deaths in Kitsap County and can be reached at 360.731.6843. Cleanup waits for scene release, which means police or the medical examiner have finished and allow others back in. The office’s family Resource Guide states that it does not endorse or recommend any specific providers, so the choice of company is yours.
Until a company arrives:
- Do not wipe, scrub or spray the area.
- Leave soaked items in place so the company can see what was affected.
- Do not pick up sharps, meaning needles, syringes, lancets or blades. Kitsap Public Health District2 (KPHD) has a page called Safely Handling Sharps.
- Keep children and pets away.
You do not need to clean, move furniture or buy supplies first. If a death went unnoticed for a time, see unattended death cleanup in Kingston.
What to expect from the company you hire
The crew should wear protective equipment such as gloves, eye protection and coveralls. Containment means sealing off the work area, for example with plastic sheeting, so contamination does not spread to the rest of the home, vehicle or building. Affected porous materials are cut out and bagged. Disinfection means using a product that kills germs on a surface, which goes further than cleaning away what you can see.
If an odor remains after the source is removed, ask about odor remediation. Homeowners insurance sometimes covers this work, so call your insurer early and ask the company for photos, a written scope of work and an itemized invoice. Ask any company about discretion, its vehicles, billing and timing, and get the answers in writing.
Usually covered: Homeowner insurance protects your home and belongings from damage caused by specific risks, says the Insurance Commissioner’s page on how home insurance works3. Personal property coverage includes your furnishings and personal items, such as your TV, clothing and dishes, the same page says.
Usually not covered: Standard homeowner and renter policies exclude wear and tear: insurance covers sudden accidents, not ongoing issues, says the Insurance Commissioner’s smoke damage page, which lists what standard policies exclude4.
Ask your insurer: “Without filing a claim yet, can you tell me if my policy covers cleaning up blood or body fluids in my home, and what limits apply?” Source: Steps to take after home damage or a loss (Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner)5
Before you hire anyone, ask how its crew follows OSHA’s bloodborne pathogens standard, 29 CFR 1910.1030, and the ANSI/IICRC S540 Standard for Trauma and Crime Scene Cleanup from the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC), a non-profit organization for the inspection, cleaning and restoration industries. You can look up the business yourself with the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) tool Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business, and our certifications guide explains what each of these means.
The process, step by step
Ask the company to explain its plan before work begins. A careful job follows these steps:
- Assessment. The crew inspects the area, traces how far fluid has spread and explains what must be removed.
- Containment. The work area is sealed off from clean spaces.
- Removal of porous material. Affected carpet, padding, drywall, seat foam or similar material is cut out and packaged. Ask to be consulted before any of your belongings are removed.
- Cleaning and disinfection. Hard surfaces, including those under removed material, are cleaned and then disinfected.
- Disposal. Biomedical waste is the legal category that includes discarded blood and used sharps. In Kitsap County, hauling biohazardous or biomedical waste is regulated by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) and KPHD2, and companies need UTC approval and a KPHD Solid Waste Hauling Permit. So ask who will haul the waste; KPHD has a page titled Permitted Solid Waste Companies in Kitsap County | 2026. A KPHD Site Restoration Hauler permit, for site waste a company hauls in its own equipment, is not the biomedical waste hauling permit.
- Final check. Before the crew leaves, ask to see the finished area and to hear what was removed and disinfected, and ask for that in writing with your other records.
Getting help in Kingston
Kingston is an unincorporated community, so code complaints about property here go to the Department of Community Development, which takes them for unincorporated Kitsap County. That holds whether the property is near North Kitsap Heritage Park, the county trail park off Miller Bay Road, or close to the Kingston Ferry Terminal, served by the Kingston Fast Ferry.
The terminal sits on State Route 104, the same highway that crosses the SR 104 Hood Canal Bridge between Jefferson and Kitsap counties, and that bridge can drop to single-lane, one-way alternating traffic for repairs. If a company is coming across it, ask how it plans to reach you. Tacoma Narrows Bridge tolls apply only toward Tacoma, so ask a company crossing that bridge whether travel is part of its estimate.
For a public health concern about a property, Kitsap Public Health District2 has a Report a Public Health Concern program you can use by phone at 360-728-2235 or online.
We can connect you with an independent company that serves Kingston. See the Kingston page and the Kitsap County page for more, or crime and trauma scene cleanup if police are involved.
Who to call first
In an emergency, call 911.These official offices may be part of the first steps. They are government pages, not ours.
- Kitsap County Medical Examiner (opens in a new tab)After a sudden or unexpected death, cleanup waits until this office is done.
- Kitsap Public Health District (opens in a new tab)For local health questions, such as a home that was used as a drug lab.
- Kitsap Public Health: permitted waste haulers (opens in a new tab)Cleanup companies that haul away waste here need this permit.
- Washington Crime Victims Compensation Program (L&I) (opens in a new tab)If a crime happened, it may help with some costs, such as funeral expenses. It doesn't pay for cleanup.
- Verify a contractor (L&I lookup) (opens in a new tab)Look up whether a company is a registered contractor before work starts.
- Washington State Department of Health (opens in a new tab)State health rules, such as for drug lab cleanup and hantavirus.