How to Choose a Document Shredding Service

by Steven Hastert

Before choosing a shredding service you must consider what your company is shredding . Are you looking for a one-time document shredding service to clean out your office or are you looking for someone to handle personal and confidential information that should be shredded regularly?

With the FACTA disposal rule, company shredding will be required beginning June, 2005 in nearly every office.

Start out by looking at what types of records you need to manage, and let us be your document shredding service . Most of the paper in your office falls into one of the following categories:

•  Official Business Records. These records are typically stored and archived for three to seven years depending on the type of record. Once per year, the recently ended fiscal year's records are stored and the “expired” records are destroyed or “purged.”

The quantities involved in an “annual records purge” are large and the best alternative is a shredding company with a high volume shredder located at a shredding plant. Boxes are picked up the shredding company and either shredded with a mobile truck or taken back to a plant for shredding. Both give you a certificate of destruction after your material has been destroyed.

•  Secondary Records. These are the records that individuals retain in their desks or file cabinets. Typically they include records that have something to do with the performance of their specific, assigned job. These records historically have proved dangerous to companies. The records do not get destroyed on any specific schedule and the record holders, for reasons known only to them, often produce information for the opposing side in legal disputes.

This material should be collected in shredding bins placed around the office. On a pre-scheduled basis a shredding contractor will empty the shredding bins and destroy the material inside. The shredding can be done with a mobile truck or taken back to a plant for shredding. Both give you a certificate of destruction after your material has been destroyed.

•  Daily business records. Historically, for most companies, all of this information went into the trash. Beginning in June 2005, FACTA requires anything having individually identifiable information must be properly destroyed.

This material should be collected in and destroyed in the same manor as your secondary records.

What is being shredded

The type of material you have will help determine the type of shredding you need. Negotiable instruments should always be shredded where you can witness the shredding and inspect the shreds. All other types of material can be shredded with a mobile truck or at shredding plant based on your price and security sensitivity.

How should shred?

There is no compelling legal reason to choose either mobile or plant based shredding. As of the writing of the article there is no current law that requires you to use a mobile shredder. Yes, that includes HIPAA, FACTA, GLBA and the Privacy Act. What you do need for help with compliance for these laws is a certificate of destruction which both provide.

The decision between mobile shredding and plant-based shredding is really one between your comfort level and cost. There is an undeniable comfort level gained from seeing the shredding truck do its work. However, if you are not going to invest the time to witness the shredding when they come then the additional cost might not be worth it for you.

Once you have chosen how you want your shredding done it is time to pick a contractor. Below are 10 things to find out about any potential shredding contractor:

1. Certifications – Is the contractor certified by any organization? NAID AAA certification is the most well know and respected in the industry today. Most shredding contractors have excellent security practices but a NAID certification lets you know they have been audited by a third party to verify it.
2. Service time – What is their average service time? If you need service in one or two days you need to make sure they can provide that scheduling. Do you need off-hours or weekend pickups?
3. References – Ask for and check their references.
4. Type of shred bin – If you need recurring service, what type of shredding bin do you need or want? Ask what type of shredding bins do they provide? Are the bins provided free or will you need to lease them?
5. Lock Security – If they provide you with a bin make sure you are getting a unique key or combination. Many contractors use locks with identical keys to your competitors. The best lock system available today is Lock Nations.
6. Additional services - Do you need a shredder that can also handle computers or products?
7. Empty boxes - If your material is in boxes you need to ask if they can take the boxes with them to be recycled.
8. Recycling – Do they recycle what they shred?
9. History – What is the contractor's experience with shredding and document management? How long have they been doing business in your area?
10. Pricing – How do they charge for their service? Are the any additional charges you should expect?