Finding blood or other bodily fluids after an injury, a fall or a medical emergency is upsetting, and it is natural to want it handled correctly. In Belfair, this cleanup is done by an independent biohazard cleanup company: first, if police or the Mason County Coroner1 are involved, they must release the space, and then the company assesses, removes and disinfects what was affected. Biohazard Network can connect you with an independent local company that serves Belfair; we do not do the cleanup, and you hire the company directly.
What this service covers
This page is about smaller or contained incidents: an injury at home, a fall, a medical emergency, or a death that was attended by medical care. It also covers places other than homes, such as a car, a shop or an office. Larger scenes are covered on the crime and trauma scene cleanup and unattended death cleanup pages.
A biohazard is biological material, such as blood, that can carry disease. Blood and other bodily fluids can carry bloodborne pathogens, which are germs in blood that can cause illness in people who come into contact with them. These fluids also soak into porous materials, meaning materials with tiny openings that absorb liquid, such as carpet, padding, upholstery, drywall, unsealed wood and fabric car seats. A surface can look clean after wiping while fluid remains underneath. That is why visible cleanup is not enough.
What to do first
If someone was hurt or has died, emergency services come first. The Mason County Coroner1 determines and certifies the cause and manner of death for deaths in Mason County from any unnatural cause, sudden deaths of people in apparent good health and not under a doctor’s care, unattended deaths, and certain other deaths. You can reach the Mason County Coroner at 360-427-9670 ext 752.
When police or the coroner are involved, they control the space until they finish. Scene release means they have told you the area is yours again. Until then, leave everything as it is. If no one has died and no authorities are involved, you can contact a cleanup company right away.
Even after release, you do not need to clean anything yourself, and it is safer not to. Keep children and pets out of the area, close the door if you can, and leave any used needles where they are for the company to handle.
At a shop, office or in a vehicle
If this happened at your business, please do not ask staff to clean it up. Blood can carry disease, and the work calls for training and protective equipment that regular staff are not given. Close off the area, keep customers and employees away, and let a cleanup company take it from there.
The same care applies to a car or truck. Fabric seats, carpet and headliners are porous, so the company may need to remove and replace parts of the interior rather than wipe them.
How the cleanup works, step by step
Ask any company you speak with to walk you through its plan. These are the steps to ask about:
- Assessment. The crew inspects the area to find where fluids reached, including below the surface, and writes up what needs to be removed.
- Containment. Containment means sealing off the work area, for example with plastic sheeting, so contamination does not spread to the rest of the home, shop or vehicle. Crew members wear protective equipment such as gloves, coveralls and eye protection.
- Removal of porous material. Materials that absorbed fluid, such as sections of carpet, padding or drywall, are cut out and bagged rather than scrubbed.
- Cleaning and disinfection. Disinfection means using products that kill germs on a surface after it has been cleaned. Hard surfaces are cleaned first, then disinfected.
- Disposal. Biomedical waste is the legal term for certain disease-risk waste, and in Washington it is limited to the types listed in state law. Those types include discarded human blood and materials containing free-flowing blood, and sharps waste, meaning items such as used needles, syringes and lancets. A company that hauls solid waste for pay needs a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC), and the state’s rules for biomedical waste collection companies require this waste to be kept separate from other solid waste until treatment or disposal. Ask the company who will haul its biomedical waste.
- Final check. The crew confirms the area is clean before taking down containment. If an odor remains after the source is gone, ask about odor remediation, which means treating and removing a lingering odor.
Records for insurance and other questions to ask
Homeowners, auto or business insurance sometimes covers this work. Before work starts, ask for a written scope of work. Ask whether the company will take before-and-after photos and provide an itemized invoice for your insurer, and whether it will deal with the insurer or you will file the claim yourself. Ask for payment terms in writing. If privacy matters to you, ask how its vehicles are marked.
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 works2. 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 exclude3.
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)4
Checking a company before you hire
Ask the company whether its crew works under OSHA’s bloodborne pathogens standard5, 29 CFR 1910.1030 (“Bloodborne pathogens.”), and whether it follows the ANSI/IICRC S540 Standard for Trauma and Crime Scene Cleanup, a guideline from the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC), a non-profit for the inspection, cleaning and restoration industries. You can look up the business yourself with the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) tool called Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business, and Biohazard Cleanup Certifications Explained walks through what each of these means.
Belfair and Mason County details
Belfair is an unincorporated community, so county offices serve it. SR 3 through Belfair serves as its main street. Between Shelton and Belfair, SR 3 is mostly a two-lane undivided highway, with turn lanes and signals through Shelton and Belfair. WSDOT’s SR 3 - Freight Corridor - New Alignment project will create a new route for SR 3 while keeping the existing highway through Belfair as a business loop. When you call a company, give the exact address and a nearby landmark, such as SR 3 or Belfair State Park, and ask how it plans to reach you.
If removing drywall or flooring leads to repairs, building questions go to Mason County Community Development, where code compliance is shared among its Building and Planning staff. For how cleanup connects with rebuilding, see how biohazard cleanup fits with restoration.
Mason County Public Health and Human Services runs a Solid Waste Program within Environmental Health, which states that owners, operators and occupants are responsible for legal disposal of solid waste accumulated on the property. The department’s sharps guidance says home-generated needles and syringes may go in household garbage only in a firm plastic container sealed with duct tape and labeled “SHARPS, DO NOT RECYCLE”. You can reach Mason County Public Health and Human Services at 360-427-9670 ext. 869. If a death occurred, copies of death certificates are issued by Mason County Public Health and the Washington State Department of Health (DOH).
For more local information, see the Belfair page and the Mason County page.
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.
- Mason County Coroner (opens in a new tab)After a sudden or unexpected death, cleanup waits until this office is done.
- Mason County Public Health (opens in a new tab)For local health questions, such as a home that was used as a drug lab.
- 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.