Proff Norway in collaboration with Gravferdsspesialisten
Methods and equipment that ensure safe, efficient delivery
When time, safety and hygiene are crucial, you need a method that works in the field – and equipment that is ready in the right order. This technical article shows how we have systematised routines and selected products for safe, efficient delivery from the initial enquiry to the finished disinfected car, storage room and home.
Why standardise?
Funeral assignments vary: private homes, institutions or public places; known or unknown risk of infection; clean conditions or acute spillage and odours. Without a clear sequence, the risk of errors, wasted time and cross-contamination increases. By combining operational methods (SOP) and quality-assured product packages, you get:
- Predictability in the car and in the warehouse
- Fewer picking errors and faster start-up
- Documentable hygiene and a safer working environment
The method below is organised into logical steps, with each step relating to a package or product category. You can read it in two ways: as a practical guide in sequence, or as an explanation of why the packages are set up as they are.
The principle: the right order makes for safer assignments
The core is simple: mapping → dressing → zoning → handling/transport → spillage → odour → cleaning/disinfection → car/stretcher → undressing → documentation.
All product selections and packages are based on this sequence. By following it, you minimise unnecessary changes, reduce the transfer of contamination and save time.
Before the assignment: vehicle setup, personal protective equipment and checklist
Start with your car. Have a fixed shelf/box system where you can always find:
- Personal protective equipment: Disposable coveralls, nitrile gloves, safety goggles/visor, face mask, nose plugs, full/half mask if necessary
- Mummy bags: body bag
- Absorption and cleaning: absorbent cloths, workshop roll, spray bottles, microfibre
- Chemistry: all-purpose cleaner/rough cleaning, sanitary cleaner
- Disinfection and odour: surface disinfection, odour gel/spray
- Waste: Sturdy transparent bags, preferably double-layered in wet conditions, with strips and labelling.
Packing suggestions before departure:
- Emergency kit (basic equipment) or Emergency kit – EXTENDED (in case of increased uncertainty/risk of infection).
- A couple of extra pairs of gloves and face masks – they don't cost much and reduce stress when the pace picks up.
Upon arrival: zoning and safe clothing
Create a clean zone (for dressing and undressing) and a dirty zone (work area). Put on personal protective equipment in the clean zone and ensure that everything you bring in is what you actually need. This reduces the number of trips back and forth and minimises the risk of spreading.
Tip: Keep a small, portable «work basket» with disposable overalls, gloves, goggles, face mask, absorbent cloth, cleaning agent and disinfectant. This will serve as your «first line of defence» in most situations.
Handling and movement: safe and predictable
Use absorbent underlays where you work to protect surfaces and prevent secondary spills. If there is visible fluid or suspected infection, always use a maternity bag and label it correctly. Ensure that transfers are carried out calmly and in a coordinated manner.
This is why the package logic works:
- Emergency kit covers the «minimum requirement» for most pick-ups.
- Emergency kit – EXTENDED provides extra margin in case of greater uncertainty: more absorption, more chemicals and extra personal protective equipment.
Acute spills: correct sequence and correct application time
- If there is a strong odour, place the Powair odour bucket with fan outside.
- Wash mechanically, cover spills, remove coarse debris with an absorbent mat, and dispose of waste properly.
- Spray on Bio Fresh, leave to work for at least 5-30 minutes.
- Wash off with ProffOx Lemon.
- Spray on ProffOx DES (disinfectant) – leave it on, do not remove.
See package for odour and contamination
«Mechanical cleaning» means that you physically remove as much of the dirt as possible while dry, then apply the correct chemicals (Biofresh, which should be sprayed on and left to work before washing with ProffOx Lemon) to treat the affected area, before applying the disinfectant (ProffOx Des).
Important: The disinfectant should be applied to the entire surface and left to act as a final treatment. Read the label and plan your time – continue working in another area while the product is taking effect. For wet/infectious waste, follow local waste disposal regulations.
Packaging suggestions for spills:
- Odour and contamination (targeted disinfection + odour treatment)
- Odour and infection – CONSUMPTION (refill version, for agencies with high frequency)
Smell and air: source first, then treatment
Biological odours are best eliminated by removing the source (spills/textiles) before treating the air. Use an odour box with an accompanying fan for immediate attenuation, and consider wet fogging of the most exposed areas (surfaces/material contact) or dry fogging or ozonation (air/room/car without people present) if the need is greater. A mobile air purifier improves the indoor climate both during and after the work.
Package suggestion:
- Odour and contamination (fogging/pump sprayer + odour box)
- Machine (for larger or repeated needs)
Follow-up work – car and stretcher: quickly back in operation
The stretcher and vehicle must be returned quickly to the next assignment. Follow the same logic: mechanical washing first, then washing with the correct chemicals and exposure time, followed by full surface disinfection. Finish with brief air treatment (dry fogging or ozonation) if necessary.
Package suggestion:
- Car & Storage Room: for consistent, effective procedures in the ambulance
- Machine: if you also want to manage the air more actively (air purifier)
Follow-up work – home: complete surface disinfection and textiles
In the home, you work from clean to less clean: hard surfaces, sanitary areas and textiles/carpets. Where textiles cannot be machine washed, consider carpet cleaning and/or odour treatment. Plan room by room and document what has been done.
Package suggestion:
- First Aid & Housing: for full-surface disinfection and systematic follow-up work
- Machine: if you need a carpet cleaner or extra air treatment with foggers.
Package overview – when do you use what?
- Emergency kit: Standard for collection/transport when normal conditions are expected.
- Emergency kit – EXTENDEDWhen you want to ensure extra margin: more personal protective equipment, more absorption, extra chemicals and faster response times.
- Odour and contamination: When you see a need for targeted cleaning and to break down biomaterial before disinfection and air/room treatment (odour box/fogging).
- Odour and infection – CONSUMPTION: Refill option for agencies that use odour control/disinfection frequently.
- Car & Storage Room: To get the ambulance back into service safely, predictably and quickly.
- First Aid & Housing: For washing down and disinfecting entire surfaces where the task has left traces.
- MachineWhen you need capacity and power: wet foggers, thermal foggers, ozone generators, vacuum cleaners, carpet cleaners, fans.
Documentation: What you need to be able to show
Professional delivery is also about documentation. Create a simple template for each assignment:
- Personal protective equipment level and zone classification
- Where and how spills were handled (including what resources were used)
- Disinfectant (start/end)
- Odour removal: Any fogging/ozonation (type, area, duration/ventilation before use)
- Waste: type, quantity and delivery method
- Date of completion and who carried out the work
This makes communication with relatives, partners and colleagues easier – and it stands up to scrutiny.
Checklist: quick check before leaving the site
Before you go:
- Odour treated and source removed?
- All surfaces in the work area cleaned and disinfected?
- Waste packaged and handled in accordance with local regulations?
- Personal protective equipment removed in clean zone, hand hygiene performed?
- Documentation completed?
Conclusion and next steps
This method has been developed to be practical in the field, easy to teach new employees, and safe to document. You don't have to «invent» the assignment every time; you follow a standard and know that the contents of the packages have been selected for the job at hand.
Take the next step:
Safety and compliance
This is an operational guide and does not replace the company's internal HSE procedures. Follow the applicable recommendations for basic infection control routines, correct use of personal protective equipment, contact time for disinfection and handling of infectious waste in accordance with local regulations.