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Off-Site vs. On-Site
A musing written by Steve Richards
on the ARMA list serve Wed, 3 Dec 2003.
If the Brink’s truck driver is not allowed to count the money out in the
parking lot, then why would you feel comfortable shredding your confidential
documents out there?
I own a commercial records management company and we also do a lot of
shredding. A lot. I’m very comfortable handling confidential information in an
extremely secure environment. I’ve been doing that for more than 18 years.
We treat your confidential records to be destroyed like a bag of money. We
pick up your records and lock them in a bin, transport the locked bin in a
locked truck whose driver has gone through an extensive background check. We
deliver them to a locked records center/destruction facility and shred them
there. All actions in the records center are monitored by a camera and are on
tape, or you can have a copy on CD. All movement of the vehicle is tracked by
live GPS. We too provide a certificate of destruction. And they too match.
If you want to monitor the destruction, come on by for lunch. After lunch,
we’ll go out, unlock the cart, unlock the bag, dump it in the pit and watch the
confidential shredding of 16,000 lbs (640 1 cube boxes) in one only (1) hour. A
shredding truck would take 17.7 + hours to shred that much. I say it with a ” +
” because a shred truck would have to go to the recycler or dump several times
to empty the shredded contents. Most of the shred trucks do not bale the
shredded material.
Do you want to stand out there and watch it - cold or hot - in the rain,
snow? Do you have that much time in your schedule to witness the destruction?
With a fixed shredder, there is no truck taking up space in your parking lot
or on the street making a lot of noise. If you’re on the second floor or above,
you probably don’t notice the noise. I wonder what those whose offices or front
doors are close to the shred truck while it is operating, think of you and that
company because of the blocking of parking spaces, the activity - and the noise.
And - you’re shredding in an unsecured environment - a parking lot or on the
street. The truck, even though manned is unlocked and open. How many times have
you walked by one and seen what they’re doing and what they’re shredding. That
doesn’t mean that you know WHOSE records are being shred. But, you can see it.
Anyone can see it. And has the wind every blown through the truck and a piece of
paper flew out of the truck on the street - in the parking lot?
And by the way, what happens to the shredded material from that shredding
truck? Where does it go? Our bales are closely monitored, delivered to a mill
that I choose and disposed of and destroyed further under my supervision.
Just another thought about shredding alternatives.
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