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Commercial and institutional · Tennessee

Workplace injury and accident cleanup

Cleanup of blood and other potentially infectious materials after an injury or accident at a workplace, including plant floors, warehouses, job sites, loading docks, offices and machinery.

What this involves

Workplace injuries rarely happen in convenient places. Blood may be on a concrete floor, in the guarding or moving parts of a machine, on a forklift, across a loading dock, inside a break room, or spread along the route someone walked to get help. Industrial surfaces such as unsealed concrete, pallets, rubber matting and conveyor belts are porous or textured and hold contamination. Equipment often needs to go back into service quickly, but it should not restart until it has been cleaned and inspected. Some incidents also affect shared areas such as restrooms, first aid stations, vehicles and the path to the exit, which need the same attention as the main site.

Why professional remediation matters

OSHA's bloodborne pathogens standard requires employers whose workers can reasonably anticipate contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials to have an exposure control plan, provide protective equipment and train those workers. Many employers who do not expect that kind of exposure choose not to put untrained staff in that position and bring in an outside crew instead. Cleaning machinery also requires lockout/tagout coordination with the employer's maintenance team. And if the incident is under investigation by OSHA, an insurer or law enforcement, the employer needs to know when the area can be disturbed.

What to avoid before help arrives

  • Do not ask untrained employees to clean up blood. Under OSHA rules, workers expected to do this need training, equipment and a hepatitis B vaccination offer.
  • Do not restart machinery involved in the incident until it has been cleaned and your maintenance team has cleared it.
  • Do not hose blood into floor drains or onto soil.
  • Preserve the scene if the incident must be reported or investigated, and confirm with your safety lead before cleanup starts.

How the work is done

  1. Coordination. We confirm with your safety or site lead that the area can be disturbed, and set up lockout/tagout with your maintenance team for any equipment.
  2. Isolation. The affected area is cordoned off so work can continue elsewhere.
  3. Removal. Contaminated absorbents, matting, packaging and other disposable materials are removed and packaged.
  4. Cleaning and disinfection. Floors, equipment surfaces and fixtures are cleaned and then disinfected with an EPA-registered product.
  5. Documentation. You receive a written summary of the work for your incident file.

Waste handling

Blood-contaminated materials are packaged as regulated medical waste and transferred for treatment and disposal through a permitted channel.

Afterward

Once the area is cleaned, your team can complete its incident review and return equipment to service through your normal process. Some employers use the event to review whether their exposure control plan covers who responds next time. Employees who saw or responded to a serious injury may benefit from support; many employers offer an employee assistance program.

Rules that apply in Tennessee

Where we provide this service

Throughout our Middle Tennessee service area, including:

Related

Questions

Is the employer required to use an outside company?

Not necessarily. OSHA requires that any employee assigned to clean up blood be trained and protected under the bloodborne pathogens standard. Many employers choose an outside company instead of training staff for rare events.

Can you clean inside machinery?

Often, with your maintenance team handling lockout/tagout and any disassembly. We clean and disinfect accessible surfaces.

This page is general information, not legal, medical, or insurance advice. Requirements change; verify with the agency listed before acting.

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