A crime scene cleaner is an individual who has decided to dedicate his or her life to helping those in need. Working at a crime scene cleanup company is one of the more interesting jobs you can have. The job of a crime scene cleaner starts as soon as the police’s crime scene tape comes down. At that point, the chief safety officer or Foreman will begin by strategically deciding how to approach and clean the biohazard remnants of a crime scene and/or gross filth hoarder. It is a very complicated process to do. Most people would think you just walk in and start cleaning, but no, that is not the way it works.




You must first recognize any and all possible hazards, from bullets potentially piercing live wires in walls, to hypodermic needles that may be laying on the floor or even broken glass from a struggle. World renown chief safety officer, Sal Pane of Bio Recovery Corporation, has been quoted stating biohazards may even be inside of a remote control on batteries where an individual may have licked the batteries when his remote was not working. Once the chief safety officer has established his or her emergency hazmat plan of remediation, which includes placing fire extinguishers around the site, first aid kits and designating exit strategies in case of fire or gas leak, the cleaning begins.



James Michel of the National Crime Scene Cleanup Association says “It is not an easy job, but the reward of seeing a family walk into a room that just hours prior was the scene of a gruesome and horrific situation is one of the greatest privileges I’ve ever encountered”




The National Crime Scene Cleanup Association is the industry leaders in crime scene cleanup with over 300 members. They currently assist in thousands of clean ups per year. If this is an industry that interests you, there are a couple facts you may need to know first before taking the plunge into this wild industry:



The smells and odors can be life changing.

Don’t forget number 1.

There will be crime scenes and horrific accidents with children involved, which is a very touchy subject with the technicians I have spoken to. I could not get one person to share any stories involving a child. Knowing that, it must weigh very heavily on their hearts.

You will not become a millionaire doing this. It is more of a civil servant type job. Most salaries range between $12.50 per hour to a potential $100,000 per year. Out of all the owners of the 14 companies we spoke with, only two admitted to making $100,000 or more.




Crime scene cleanup companies in general fail more than they succeed, with tens of thousands of companies opening over the years, only a handful have lasted more than five years. A representative of the National Crime Scene Cleanup Association stated that most companies have over a 90% turnover rate, industry wide, within a period of 1 year.


In other words, most new companies won’t reach their one year anniversary in this industry. Even after learning all that we shared with you, if it is still an industry that excites you, James says check out crime scene cleanup field. Fill out an application and they will look forward to working with you in the future.

Source: Bio Recovery



Source: National Crime Scene Cleanup Association (NCSCA)



Source: KRI Crime Scene Cleanup

Source: SuicideCleanup.com

Source: Crime Scene Inc.

Source: Wikipedia