Risk-led scene strategy
Translate hazard information and investigative objectives into defensible entry, search and recovery priorities.
CBRN Forensics · Contaminated-scene investigation
Control the hazard without losing the investigation.
CBRN forensic work connects hazard characterisation, responder protection and contamination control with lawful recovery, scientific integrity and evidential continuity.
What is CBRN forensics?
CBRN forensics is the application of forensic strategy, documentation, sampling and evidence management where chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear hazards change how a scene can be entered, examined and transferred to laboratories. Safety controls and evidential decisions must be planned together rather than treated as separate phases.
Protective equipment does not turn a standard workflow into a CBRN workflow.
Zoning, PPE, measurement, exposure limits, contamination control, sampling, packaging, decontamination and transport all affect what can be recovered and how findings can later be interpreted. The operational plan must connect investigators, scientists, CBRN advisers, incident command, laboratories and prosecutors.
Applied knowledge
Four connected questions.
Each area can be examined separately; operational value emerges when its interfaces with the wider system are understood.
Contamination-aware recovery
Plan access, documentation, sampling, packaging and transfer to control both responder exposure and cross-contamination.
Forensic–laboratory interface
Define sample purpose, chain of custody, transport conditions and analytical questions before material leaves the scene.
Multi-agency exercise design
Test how police, CBRN, laboratory, medical and justice functions exchange authority and information.
Practitioner-led across the chain
The material starts with work performed at active scenes.
TSM is not assembled from conference summaries or secondary material alone. Its founder’s experience spans criminal investigation, major-scene leadership, forensic recovery, CBRN and radiological scene management, DVI coordination, illicit laboratory response, technology integration, international instruction and exercise evaluation.
That breadth makes it possible to examine not only what each specialist function does, but what its decisions change for every function that acts before, beside or after it.
Professional boundaryBroad operational experience does not mean one person replaces every discipline. Claims and knowledge-sharing remain within verified competence and, where required, involve authorised or accredited partners.
Operational relevance
Questions this field can help clarify.
- Safer access and clearer stop–go decisions
- Traceable sampling and packaging strategies
- Reduced contamination and continuity failures
- Better alignment between field recovery and laboratory questions
Relevant communities
- Law-enforcement and forensic personnel
- CBRN and HazMat responders
- Specialist laboratories and scientific advisers
- Incident commanders, prosecutors and exercise staff
Research and learning formats
- Awareness to advanced specialist modules
- Investigator–scientist workshops
- Technical stations and scenario exercises
- Procedure review and capability assessment
Public references and transparent limits.
This field note links research, professional guidance and operational practice. The public references support its terminology and context; they do not imply institutional endorsement of TSM.
IAEA Radiological Crime Scene Management training↗UNICRI: building CBRN forensic capability↗TSM research and publications→
Scope boundary:
Delivery is adapted to national law and local procedures. Regulated activities and formal certification remain with the competent or accredited authority.
Delivery is adapted to national law and local procedures. Regulated activities and formal certification remain with the competent or accredited authority.
Scientific dialogue
Research, publication and professional knowledge exchange.
TSM welcomes research cooperation, peer review, editorial collaboration, academic or conference invitations and professional knowledge exchange, within clear authority and conflict-of-interest boundaries.