Biohazard Glossary

Biohazard – any type of biological waste or biological agent such as a virus or a condition that constitutes a threat to humans. Biohazards must be eliminated by professionals such as Bio-X Hawaii otherwise they can cause serious health effects and continuous exposure, if not properly removed and cleared of any biohazards, can be lead to long term adverse health effects of unknown occupants

Biohazardous agent – a biological agent or condition (as an infectious organism or insecure laboratory procedures) that constitutes a hazard to humans or the environment

Biohazard remediation – cleanup and disinfection of any biohazard situation, including hoarding, commercial or industrial accidents, chemical spills, or contamination scenarios

Biological waste – is any material that contains or has been contaminated by a biohazardous agent

Crime scene clean up – cleanup of blood, other bodily fluids such as urine, and other potentially infectious materials (OPIM). It is also referred to as biohazard remediation, because crime scenes are only a portion of the situations in which biohazard cleaning is needed

Clean-up operation – when hazardous substances are removed, confined, stabilized, or in any other manner; with the vital goal of making the scene safer for people or the environment

Decontamination – the removal of hazardous substances to avoid or minimize potential dangerous health effects

Facility – any building or structure

Hazardous materials response (HAZMAT) – organized group of trained professionals, who handle and control actual or potential leakages or spills of hazardous substances; quite often requiring being very close to the substance

Hoarding/Hoarder – a word that describes anyone that feels the need to find, collect, keep, pack ANY and everything because they do not know how to throw things away. This can lead to dangerous situations like sanitation, fires, injuries and isolation

Infectious agent – something that invades another living thing (like a virus to a human). When an infectious agent “hitches a ride”, the “driver” officially become an infected host. There are four main classes of infectious agents: bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites

Trauma – a deeply disturbing or distressing experience or physical injury