How to Become a Crime Scene Cleaner

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: July 22, 2020

Crime scene cleaners are the people called in after crime scene investigators have taken a look over the scene of a crime. As a cleaner, you’ll be charged with tidying up and disposing of any blood, body parts, or other signs that a crime has taken place in order to make the space habitable again. While it’s not the most glamorous job, if you have a strong stomach and an open schedule, you can make a lot of money by becoming a crime scene cleaner.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Training for the Job

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Graduate from high-school to increase your chances of getting hired. While there is no formal education required to become a crime scene cleaner, many employers will expect a high school level education. Graduate from high-school or complete a GED before you begin looking for a job as a crime scene cleaner.^{[1]
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- A GED is a test that proves you have a level of education equivalent to that of a high-school graduate. Getting a GED will allow you to more easily find work as a crime scene cleaner, even if you didn’t complete high school.
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Get certified in crime scene cleaning, bio-recovery, or bloodborne pathogen handling. While there are few restrictions or regulations on crime scene cleaning around the world, there are likely some courses or certifications around you that will help significantly. Look for a certification in crime scene cleaning, bio-recovery, or handling bloodborne pathogens from a government agency in your area.^{[2]
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- In the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has a series of procedures and standards specific to cleaning a crime scene that you will need to learn. For more information, look to the OSHA Training Requirements Sheet found here: https://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha2254.pdf
- In the United Kingdom, you can be trained as a crime scene cleaner by the National Academy of Crime Scene Cleaners (NACSC).
- In Canada, you will need to ensure that you can follow the Canadian Biosafety Standards and Guidelines. More information about this can be found here: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/canadian-biosafety-standards-guidelines.html
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Seek out training with personal protective equipment (PPE) and respiratory protection. Working as a crime scene cleaner may involve wearing a Hazmat suit or other protective equipment. Look online or find an OSHA course nearby that can help teach when and how to use personal and respiratory protection on the job.^{[3]
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- In most countries, your employer will be required to put you through mandated training in respiratory protection and PPE. However, going in with prior knowledge will increase your ability to work safely and may help you land the job.
- Look on the OSHA website, or the website for your local health and safety standards authority, for more information.
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Prepare for more training on the job. In order to remain certified as a crime scene cleaner, you may need to pass training courses on hazardous communication, heat-illness awareness, medical waste handling, and many other topics. Study up on these areas as you apply for jobs as a crime scene cleaner to improve your chances of successfully completing any required training.^{[4]
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- Talk to potential employers about the training they’d expect you to complete. This can help you to prepare, or may even allow you to pass the training independently and increase your chances of getting hired.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Assessing Your Suitability

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Be able to work around blood and waste without feeling sick. Crime scenes will often be messy, bloody, and will often reek of death or decomposition. If you’re going into a new crime scene every day, you’ll need to have a strong stomach to be able to work effectively in that environment. Ensure that you can handle working on a crime scene that might smell horrible before you decide to become a crime scene cleaner.^{[5]
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- Humans have a natural instinct that will make them want to move away from the smell of rotting flesh or death. As a crime scene cleaner, you’ll need to be able to suppress this on a day-to-day basis in order to get the job done.
- While there are tricks to suppressing nausea that you may be able to use to stop feeling ill while working, these probably won’t be enough to help you in the long-term.
- Over time it’s likely that you’ll become desensitized to some of the more disgusting parts of the job. You should have a strong stomach, but don’t worry if you still feel a little ill at first.
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Be strong enough to handle hours of physical labor. It can take up to 9 or 10 hours to clean a crime scene fully, during which time you’ll constantly be on your feet cleaning. If you want to become a crime scene cleaner, make sure you can happily work for many hours at a time doing physical labor.^{[6]
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- Even though you’ll be cleaning up a crime scene, you’ll still be mostly doing cleaning work such as scrubbing down walls, cleaning carpets, and airing out and cleaning furniture. Make sure that this is all work you can do happily before coming a crime scene cleaner.
- You will likely need to be able to work in tight spaces while cleaning, as well as often lifting 50 pounds (23 kg) or more. Work on slimming down while still gaining muscle to be the most effective crime scene cleaner and increase your chances of getting hired.
3
Adjust to working long and irregular hours. “Crime never sleeps”, which means that crime scene cleaners will need to be ready to clean up a scene at a moment’s notice. Most people will want a crime scene cleaned up as soon as possible, so you’ll need to be prepared to be on-call at irregular hours. Ensure you can handle having an unpredictable schedule of long hours.^{[7]
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- If you have kids or other significant commitments, being a crime scene cleaner may be a difficult job to take on without some extra help.
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Make sure you can handle the emotional toll. Cleaning up after crime scenes means that you’ll have to see the aftermath of some terrible crimes and empathize with those affected. Even if you can deal with the physical demands of the job, you’ll need to make sure you can handle the toll of dealing with death and sadness every day of your job.^{[8]
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- It may help to find a therapist or someone that you can talk to about your job. Having someone to talk to can help you get through things that might be difficult to handle on your own.
- While there are ways to learn how to better cope with emotional pain and deal with your emotions, consider whether or not that’s something you’re ready to deal with. There are plenty of other jobs that will have less of an emotional toll which you could choose from.
- While it will come naturally to some people, you may also be able to learn to empathize better or show your empathy more clearly.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Finding a Job

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Gain skills or experience by working cleaning or construction jobs. While you likely won’t be able to get experience on a crime scene, there are plenty of other ways to build up desirable skills. Find a job as a domestic cleaner to get experience in cleaning, or try working on a construction site to gain experience with power tools and health and safety standards.^{[9]
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- Experience with power tools will come in handy for crime scenes with areas that are too difficult to fix with cleaning products. Even if you don’t have experience on a construction site, knowledge of how to work safely with power tools will come in handy when trying to find a job.
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Write a resume that emphasizes your job related skills and experience. As there is only so much research and studying you can do to give you an edge when applying to be a crime scene cleaner, you’ll need to make a fantastic resume to prove why you’d be a great crime scene cleaner.^{[10]
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Research source} Here are a few things to consider:
- Make sure you privilege any formal training you have in biohazard handling or other cleaning experience, as this will put you above anyone without this training.
- Focus on traits that crime scene cleaners will need, such as having a strong stomach and being able to be on-call for long hours. These will make you a more desirable employee.
3
Search for jobs with companies that handle crime scene and biohazard cleanup. The easiest way to find employment as a crime scene cleaner is reaching out to companies that deal with biohazard cleanup in your area. Look online for companies near you and get in contact with them. Send a cover letter and a copy of your resume explaining why you’d like to work for them.^{[11]
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- As there is more crime in bigger cities, you’ll be more likely to find employment somewhere with lots of people. Relocate to a city with more than 1 million people if you don’t live in one already.
- Crime scene cleaning roles might be listed under many different names. Try looking for jobs in bio-recovery, bio-cleaning, trauma cleaning, crime scene decontamination, or other similar terms to increase the chances of finding a crime scene cleaning job.
- Make sure that any company you apply to work for passes all of the health and safety requirements for working with bloodborne pathogens. If they do not, you might be putting yourself at risk by working for them. The OSHA bloodborne pathogen guidelines can be found here: https://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/data_BloodborneFacts/bbfact01.pdf
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Be ready to pass a drug test and a background check if you get hired. As you’ll be working in people’s homes and dealing with very sensitive situations, most biohazard cleaners will have to pass a drug test and background check before being hired. Make sure your drug test and background check will both come back clean before applying for a job.^{[12]
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- Never take illicit substances will seeking employment or working as a crime scene cleaner. This could jeopardize your job and prevent you from completing your work properly.
- If you know that something will come up on your background check, be prepared to talk to your potential employer about it. It’s better to talk to them about it and be ready to explain it than try to hide it and get caught. With a good explanation, there’s a chance your employer may overlook your background check.
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Look for a support group to help process what you see at work. Finding someone to talk to about difficult topics can make them a lot easier to process. Look for a support group for those who deal with crime or violence in your area, or find a therapist or someone else you can talk to.^{[13]
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- Ask the people you work with if they know of or are a part of a support group that you could join.

References

More References (4)

Warnings

Make sure that you understand what crime scene cleaning involves before getting into it. Cleaning up a hazardous scene, or removing blood after someone has died isn’t for the faint of heart.

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