What's it like to work as a crime scene cleaner?

Cleaning up crime and trauma scenes can be emotional, but Dave Smith finds the job rewarding

Hygiene technician Dave Smith specialises in cleaning up scenarios that are too traumatic or difficult for people to deal with. From murders to decomposing bodies, his varied job also involves being lowered down industrial silos or cleaning professional kitchens at night.

The 29-year-old from Cardiff has been doing the job for a decade, but can still find it hard to switch off from the more difficult scenes he sees.

“I have got more used to the emotional element, but there is always the compassion that you genuinely feel,” he says.

Despite the unsettling nature of the job, he says it can be rewarding, especially when he feels he is offering a helping hand to grieving families.

“At the risk of sounding a bit cheesy, I feel proud. We get a bit of satisfaction out of knowing you will make someone happy. If it was just the money you were after, you would go and work in a call centre,” he says.

Smith also enjoys not knowing what each day will bring. Based in the Bristol branch of Rentokil, he gets called out to premises across Wales and the South-west, and can complete up to six different jobs a day. He likes meeting people from all walks of life, and having a bit of banter with them on site - if it's appropriate.

“Often at crime scenes you get police saying to you,:'I couldn't do your job, mate', and you almost want to reply: 'No, and I couldn't do yours either!'”

The father-of-two became a hygiene technician as a “fluke” after seeing the position advertised at his local job centre. He now helps to manage a team of 20 and has “literally no plans of moving on any time soon”.

When it comes to doing the housework at home, Smith is more reluctant to clean in his days off.

“My wife says I'm only a good cleaner when I'm getting paid for it,” he says. “She does most of the cleaning around the house. If she heard anything otherwise, I think I'd be in for it!”