Biosafety is the prevention of large-scale loss of biological integrity, focusing both on ecology and human health. These prevention mechanisms include conduction of regular reviews of the biosafety in laboratory settings, as well as strict guidelines to follow. Biosafety is used to protect from harmful incidents. Many laboratories handling biohazards employ an ongoing risk management assessment and enforcement process for biosafety. Failures to follow such protocols can lead to increased risk of exposure to biohazards or pathogens. Human error and poor technique contribute to unnecessary exposure and compromise the best safeguards set into place for protection.
A biological hazard, or biohazard, is a biological substance that poses a threat to the health of living organisms, primarily humans. This could include a sample of a microorganism, virus or toxin that can adversely affect human health. A biohazard could also be a substance harmful to other living beings.
In urban planning, brownfield land is any previously developed land that is not currently in use. It may be affected by contamination, but this is not required for a site to be considered brownfield. The term is also used to describe land previously used for industrial or commercial purposes with known or suspected pollution including soil contamination due to hazardous waste.
Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The program is designed to investigate and clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances. Sites managed under this program are referred to as "Superfund" sites. There are 40,000 federal Superfund sites across the country, and approximately 1,300 of those sites have been listed on the National Priorities List (NPL). Sites on the NPL are considered the most highly contaminated and undergo longer-term remedial investigation and remedial action (cleanups).
The Hunters Point Naval Shipyard was a United States Navy shipyard in San Francisco, California, located on 638 acres (258 ha) of waterfront at Hunters Point in the southeast corner of the city.
Environmental Quality Management, Inc. (EQM) is an environmental engineering and remediation company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio that has been active in providing environmental remediation support in response to terrorist attacks, the space shuttle disaster, superfund site cleanup, hazardous chemical spills and natural disasters.
Crime scene cleanup is a term applied to cleanup of blood, bodily fluids, and other potentially infectious materials (OPIM). It is also referred to as biohazard remediation, and forensic cleanup, because crime scenes are only a portion of the situations in which biohazard cleaning is needed. Incidents which may require this type of cleanup include accidents, suicide, homicides, and decomposition after unattended death, as well as mass trauma, industrial accidents, infectious disease contamination, animal biohazard contamination or regulated waste transport, treatment, and disposal.
The Tui mine is an abandoned mine on the western slopes of Mount Te Aroha in the Kaimai Range of New Zealand. It was considered to be the most contaminated site in the country, following the cleanup of the former Fruitgrowers Chemical Company site at Māpua, Nelson.
Hoarders is an American documentary reality television series that debuted on A&E on August 17, 2009. The show depicts the real-life struggles and treatment of people who suffer from compulsive hoarding disorder.
The Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC), was a government-owned, contractor-operated complex of industrial facilities located within the 2,850-acre (11.5 km2) Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL), Ventura County, California. The ETEC specialized in non-nuclear testing of components which were designed to transfer heat from a nuclear reactor using liquid metals instead of water or gas. The center operated from 1966 to 1998. The ETEC site has been closed and is now undergoing building removal and environmental remediation by the U.S. Department of Energy.
A rolling meth lab is a transportable laboratory that is used to illegally produce methamphetamine. Rolling meth labs are often moved to a secluded location where the strong, toxic fumes of methamphetamine manufacture cannot be detected and where the toxic manufacturing byproducts can be discarded. They are sometimes designed to manufacture the drug while the lab is traveling.
The Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) is the law enforcement arm of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It is made up of attorneys, special agents, scientists and other employees.
Aftermath Services, a ServiceMaster company, performs crime scene clean up, homicide cleanup, suicide cleanup, hoarding cleanup, unattended death cleanup, infectious disease disinfection, and other trauma cleanup and specialty biohazard cleaning services such as hoarding and tear gas cleanup. Headquartered in Aurora, IL, the company has been in business since 1996 and maintains locations serving 48 of the United States. The company pioneered its field and was the subject of a book by the same name. The company manufactures proprietary cleaning agents engineered specifically for cleaning biomatter and bodily fluids.
Advanced Bio-Treatment (ABT) is a biohazard response and remediation company operating in twenty-eight states. The company employs a multitude of cleanup teams specializing in crime scene cleanup. Day-to-day business operations are overseen by a customer service driven team from the company’s corporate office located in Jacksonville, Florida.
Astronaut training describes the complex process of preparing astronauts in regions around the world for their space missions before, during and after the flight, which includes medical tests, physical training, extra-vehicular activity (EVA) training, procedure training, rehabilitation process, as well as training on experiments they will accomplish during their stay in space.
The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification, more commonly known as the IICRC, is a certification and standard-setting non-profit organization for the inspection, cleaning, and restoration industries. It is headquartered in Las Vegas, NV, United States, and has offices in the United Kingdom and Australia. The organization formulates health and safety related industry standards for built environment. As an American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-accredited standard-development organization (SDO), the IICRC works with international trade associations such as the International Sanitary Supply Association (ISSA) and the Restoration Industry Association(RIA) to develop consensus-based standards.
The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh was signed on 24 April 2013. It is a five-year independent, legally binding Global Framework Agreement between global brands, retailers and trade unions designed to build a safe and healthy Bangladeshi Ready Made Garment (RMG) Industry. The agreement was created in the immediate aftermath of the Rana Plaza building collapse that led to the death of more than 1100 people and injured more than 2000. In June 2013, an implementation plan was agreed leading to the incorporation of the Bangladesh Accord Foundation in the Netherlands in October 2013.
RYOT is an American immersive media company founded in 2012 by Bryn Mooser, David Darg, Molly DeWolf Swenson and Martha Rogers, based in Los Angeles. It specializes in documentary film production, commercial production, virtual reality and augmented reality.
Bio Recovery Corporation is an American company that handles crime scene and bio-hazard cleanups. The company assisted in the clean-up of the apartment of Craig Spencer, who worked with Doctors Without Borders, when he contracted Ebola, as well as a bowling alley he visited in New York.
Exide is one of the world's largest producers, distributors and recyclers of lead-acid batteries. Lead-acid batteries are used in automobiles, golf carts, fork-lifts, electric cars and motorcycles. They are recycled by grinding them open, neutralizing the sulfuric acid, and separating the polymers from the lead and copper. In the US, 97 percent of the lead from car batteries is recycled - which is the highest recycling rate for any commodity. Most states require stores to take back old batteries.
