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Films and TV programmes such as CSI have glamourised the often difficult work of crime scene cleaners. It’s not a job for the faint of heart, but becoming a crime scene cleaner can be a rewarding career and also great way to get your foot in the door if you are interested in similar occupations. Crime scene clean up covers a very niche market within the cleaning industry. Decontamination is a key part of the job and the role involves cleaning up dangerous material. The sort of scenarios a crime scene cleaner could find themselves faced with include the scene of a violent death (accidental, homicide or suicide) or an area contaminated with dangerous chemical materials, such as anthrax. Safety is paramount when cleaning a crime and although you aren’t required to undergo any form of specialised training to become a crime scene cleaner, it is wise to make sure that you have at least some understanding of the types of hazards you may be up against. Undertaking blood-borne pathogen training would be beneficial, for example, as you will be dealing with contaminated blood on a daily basis in the role. The type of cleaning you will be performing must be extensive; otherwise you leave the risk of infection from biohazard materials. You will need specialist knowledge of how to safely handle and dispose of biohazardous material and what to look for at a crime scene. An example of this could be awareness that a bloodstain might have permeated more than just a carpet, there could be traces of blood could have found their way into the floorboards as well, meaning more effort has to be made while crime scene cleaning. If you’ve already read this far, there’s a good chance that you do have the stomach for the job, but it’s very important to ensure that you can handle the more traumatic aspects of the job. You have to be prepared for extreme gore and the fact that you will be disposing of human remains. Any crime scene cleaner needs three key qualities: an iron stomach, the ability to emotionally detach from his work and to be sympathetic. A sympathetic nature is important because you will be interacting with grieving families who are attempting to come to terms with their loss. Crime scene cleaners hold a very awkward position because they have to remain stoic in the face of gut-wrenching physical remains and also remain sensitive to the tragic nature of the scene. It’s very difficult to find someone who can do both.
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