After a crime, a serious injury or a suicide in Gig Harbor, an independent biohazard cleanup company that the family, landlord or business hires directly does the cleanup; a biohazard is blood or another body fluid that can carry disease. Cleanup can start once police, and the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office1 if someone died, have released the scene. Biohazard Network connects you with an independent local company and does not do the cleanup itself.
If you are reading this after a death or a frightening event, you do not have to carry it alone. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline offers free, confidential support, and you can reach a counselor by call, text or chat at any time, day or night.
What this cleanup involves
Crime and trauma scene cleanup covers what is left after an assault, a homicide, a break-in where someone was hurt, a serious accident, or a death by suicide. The goal is that the people who live or work there never have to see or handle any of it. Ordinary cleaning is not enough. Household products can spread contamination, and porous materials, meaning things that soak up liquid such as carpet, padding and drywall, may need to be cut out rather than wiped. If a person died at home and was not found right away, see the unattended death cleanup page.
Who controls the scene first
Police control the property after a crime or serious injury until they release the scene. Scene release means they have finished their work and handed the property back. If someone died, the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office1 may also be involved. A medical examiner’s office is the county office that looks into certain deaths; in Pierce County it determines the cause and manner of death and investigates deaths under its jurisdiction. Under RCW 68.50.010, those deaths include any death caused by violence, whether self-induced or otherwise. For questions about its role, contact the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office at (253) 798-6494.
Until release, stay out of any area you are asked to avoid. After release, do not touch, move or clean anything in the affected area, and keep children and pets away.
After a death by suicide
If someone you love died by suicide, there is nothing you need to do in that room. The funeral home the legal next of kin chooses will care for your loved one, and the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office1 releases the person’s belongings, other than money, to that funeral home. A cleanup company can take the work of the space off the family’s shoulders, so no relative has to go back in. Ask any company you contact how it protects your privacy, such as how its vehicles are marked.
For property managers and employers after an accident
When someone is badly hurt at a rental, a shop or a workplace, first keep people away. Block off the area, and do not ask staff to clean it with regular supplies. Afterward, ask the company for written records of what was removed, what was disinfected and how waste left the property. Those records support an insurance claim and help you answer questions before people return.
What to expect from the company you hire
The crew should wear protective equipment such as gloves, suits and masks, and may set up containment, which means sealing off the work area so contamination does not spread. The company removes affected porous materials, then cleans and disinfects hard surfaces; disinfection means treating a surface with a product that kills germs. Odor work comes only after the source is gone; see odor remediation and, for smaller spills, blood and bodily fluid cleanup.
Removed materials may be biomedical waste, which Washington law defines by a short list of types that includes discarded human blood and sharps waste such as used needles. The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department’s Infectious Waste Management program permits and inspects businesses that generate, transport or treat infectious waste, so ask the company how its waste will be hauled and treated. Ask, too, for photos and a written scope of work for your insurer.
Before you hire anyone, ask whether the crew follows OSHA’s bloodborne pathogens standard2, 29 CFR 1910.1030, which protects workers from bloodborne pathogens (germs in blood that can cause disease), and the ANSI/IICRC S540 Standard for Trauma and Crime Scene Cleanup from the IICRC, a non-profit for the cleaning and restoration industries. You can look up the business on the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries3 (L&I) Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business3 tool, and the certifications guide explains what each of these means.
Does insurance cover crime scene cleanup?
Homeowners insurance sometimes covers this work, depending on the policy. The Office of the Insurance Commissioner4 (OIC) tells homeowners to understand what their policy does and doesn’t cover, and says you can ask your agent or company whether a loss is covered without filing a claim. If the loss came from a crime, keep a copy of the police report for your insurer.
Before you sign anything, know that the OIC says you have the right to choose your own contractor for covered repairs, and that signing a contractor’s assignment of benefit form could affect your rights. Renters should know that a landlord’s policy does not cover a renter’s personal property. If your belongings are contaminated and unsafe to handle, ask your insurer what to do, and do not throw damaged items away yet, because the insurer may want to inspect them. The OIC’s Consumer Advocacy line and “Ask an insurance expert” form can help if you get stuck.
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 works. Insurance companies can’t deny your claim if a covered loss is due to domestic abuse and you didn’t help cause the loss; if you file a claim for a property loss, you’ll also need to file a police report, says the Commissioner’s page on domestic abuse and insurance.
Usually not covered: A policy may exclude losses caused by intentional or fraudulent acts of anyone it insures, under RCW 48.18.550.
Ask your insurer: “What does my policy cover for cleanup after a crime, a serious injury or a suicide in my home, and do any exclusions apply?” Source: Filing a homeowner insurance claim (Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner)4
What Washington’s Crime Victims Compensation Program covers
The Crime Victims Compensation Program5 of L&I5 lists crime scene cleanup among the costs it does not pay for. It can still help a family in other ways, since it may pay for mental health treatment, grief counseling, medical and dental treatment, medication, partial wage loss replacement and funeral expenses. To qualify, a person must have been physically injured or mentally traumatized by a gross misdemeanor or felony in Washington, and the crime must have been reported to law enforcement with cooperation in the investigation. Because the program pays only after primary insurance, file with your own insurer first.
Getting help in Gig Harbor
Gig Harbor sits on Gig Harbor Bay across the Narrows Bridge from Tacoma, so when you contact a company, ask where its crew is coming from and when it can be at the property. The steps above are the same whether the property is near Jerisich Dock and Skansie Brothers Park on Harborview Drive or near Eddon Boat Park on North Harborview Drive.
Because Gig Harbor is an incorporated city, its Community Development Department is responsible for land use, planning, development and code enforcement within the city limits, so code questions about repairs go there. If walls or floors need replacing, the restoration page explains how that work fits with biohazard cleanup. When you are ready, we can connect you with an independent local company.
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.
- Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department (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.