What Are Biohazard Bags Used For?

If you’ve been in a hospital or doctor’s office, you’ve probably seen those bright red bags that have the biohazard symbol on them. Well, those are biohazard bags. They’re used for transporting infected materials for disposal. As the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) states, these materials include any object contaminated by:

• Semen, vaginal secretions, cerebrospinal fluid, synovial fluid, pleural fluid, pericardial fluid, peritoneal fluid, amniotic fluid, saliva in dental procedures, any body fluid that is visibly contaminated with blood, and all body fluids in situations where it is difficult or impossible to differentiate between body fluids
• Any unfixed tissue or organ (other than intact skin) from a human (living or dead)
• HIV-containing cell or tissue cultures, organ cultures, and HIV- or HBV-containing culture medium or other solutions; and blood, organs, or other tissues from experimental animals infected with HIV or HBV

How does Crime Scene Clean-Up use biohazard bags?

Our biohazard cleanup technicians will remove flooring, drywall and other surfaces to clean out and disinfect all traces of blood and bodily fluids that may have soaked under or behind them. All porous materials, such as carpet and cloth, should be removed because they cannot be disinfected. The removed materials plus the used cleaning cloths must all be handled as biohazard waste, documented and transported legally and safely to an approved disposal center.

Our licensed biohazard cleanup teams are experienced in the use of personal protective and respiratory equipment and are experts in biohazard remediation. They meet Federal and State environmental and safety requirements for handling and transporting regulated medical waste and they maintain contracts with licensed biohazard waste disposal companies.