Time to discovery

How long passed before a person was found. It is the single largest driver of what a cleanup costs, because longer means fluids reached further into porous materials — and porous materials get removed rather than cleaned.

What kind of thing this is

Time to discovery is a category of work in this field. This definition comes from a standards body or an industry institution rather than from government. That makes it authoritative about practice and silent about legal obligation — a distinction worth keeping when a company cites it.

Where you will meet it

This is a line on a quote. What it includes varies more than the name suggests, which is why an itemised scope matters more than the heading it sits under.

Why the wording matters

This site defines terms in under forty words wherever it can, and attaches the practical consequence rather than leaving it implied. A definition that tells you what something is, without telling you what follows from it, is trivia at a moment when nobody has room for trivia.