Tips to Help You Prep for Bulk Purge Shredding

It’s hard to believe another year is coming to a close. For many businesses, the end of the year also represents an opportunity to plan and prepare for the coming year and to tidy up some of those lingering tasks. One of the most common year-end tasks for Augusta area businesses is planning and preparing for purge shredding.

Annual record purging can help to eliminate risk of old and outdated files being lost or misplaced and helps to ensure you remain in compliance with federal and industry-specific privacy and retention requirements.

Preparing for Your Purge Shredding Service

If your business is preparing documents for a bulk record purge and secure shredding service, here are a few tips to make sure you are prepared

• Review Retention Requirements
  It’s important to know your state, federal, and industry specific retention requirements for different types of records. It’s best to have these noted as a part of your retention policy to keep everyone up-to-date on compliance standards. If you are preparing a retention policy for the first time, you can review some of our tips here.
• Schedule Your Service
  Once you have reviewed your purge requirements and you have an idea about how many records should be purged and securely destroyed, schedule your purge with a local vendor. Augusta Data Storage offers mobile or plant-based purge shredding as a part of our NAID AAA Certified operation.
• Sort Your Records
  Once you know which records will stay and which will go, separate the records for destruction and clearly label them so they are not misplaced. If you are pre-sorting prior to your scheduled purge date, we recommend storing your files in a secure location to avoid any additional security threats once they have been removed from storage.
• Prep Your Records:
  For many vendors, it’s important to make sure that no items end up in the shred bin that shouldn’t. At Augusta Data Storage we request that all items be removed from binders and large binder clips before placing into shred bins. Paperclips and staples can be processed. For more tips on prepping your files for shredding, check out our past blog post.
• Purge your Records:
  If you have scheduled service with Augusta Data Storage, on the day of your purge we will arrive to either pack up your records boxes for transport to our plant-based shredder, or we will arrive on-site with one of our secure mobile shredding units to perform the job at your facility. Once your records are purged you will receive a certificate of destruction for your records stating what was destroyed and when.

Why Should I Purge my Records Annually?

Paper records pose an increased security risk for businesses, especially those that are used less and are often left forget in unmonitored or unsecure storage areas. Though these records may not be an “active” part of your business operation, maintaining their integrity and security is still your responsibility.

Following a regular retention schedule and reviewing your archival storage areas annually helps to minimize the risk of an information breach for you, your employees, and your customers.

What Records Should Be Securely Destroyed?

It’s best to err on the side of caution when it comes to secure destruction of documents. If you aren’t sure whether a document should be shredded or not, shred it! It’s better to be safe than sorry. Here are a few examples of the types of records that often require secure destruction and have specific retention requirements.

• Financial Records
• Financial Transactions
• Tax Documents
• Legal Documents
• Patient Medical Records
• Proprietary Business Information
• Business Documents
• Any files with personally identifiable information
• Employee Records and Files
• and more

If your business or organization is preparing for your annual records purge contact Augusta Data Storage. We are committed to helping you securely destroy your records as quickly and easily as possible.

What can I expect when I schedule purge shredding?

Once your business has prepared for your record purge, using the tips above, Augusta Data Storage is ready to step in and help you manage the secure destruction process. We offer both on-site destruction (at your location) or off-site destruction, at our plant-based facility in Augusta, GA.

Both operations offer NAID-AAA Certified Secure Destruction processes and include a certificate of destruction for internal filing, as a proof of destruction of your information.

What if I need to purge Records Stored at an off-site storage facility?

If your records are stored in our secure facilities at Augusta Data Storage, we will work with you to develop a retention schedule based on your specific needs. Once that schedule is developed we will pull the bulk files for destruction each year and ensure they are securely shredded and that a copy of the certificate of destruction is sent to you.

If your records are stored at a third party facility, we can work with you to coordinate transportation to our plant-based shred operation, where your records will be destroyed, baled, and processed for recycling.

How can I schedule a Records Purge?

Ready to get started with your annual purge project? We’re here to help! Reach out to one of our account managers today to find out how we can help you alleviate the stress and burden of your outdated files.