Thank you for considering Clubshred. Below you will find
answers to several commonly asked questions. You will find
them helpful to refer to when considering our services. If
you have any additional questions please contact us.
Why shred?
Why should stored records be destroyed
on a regular basis?
What is the difference between per pound
and per minute?
Why not just use the trashcan or dumpster
for disposal of records?
Couldn't I recycle and get the same results
as shredding?
Should I trust my documents to just any
shredding company?
Should I trust my record storage company
to destroy my documents?
Couldn't my own employees shred my documents?
How important is it to protect the documents
of Senior Management?
I have offices in several states. Can Clubshred
provide service to those locations too?
Does Clubshred supply locking containers
to store my material in until I am ready for a pickup?
What if I only need to use shredding services
one time?
What happens to the material after it
is destroyed?
Do I have to remove rubber bands, staples,
paper clips or other types of paper fasteners?
Why shred?
Every Business Has Information That Requires Destruction.
All businesses have occasion to discard confidential data.
Customer lists, price lists, sales statistics, drafts of bids
and letters, even memos, contain information about business
activity, which would interest any competitor. Every business
is also entrusted with information that must be kept private.
Employees and customers have the legal right to have this
data protected.
Without the proper safeguards, information ends up in the
dumpster where it is readily and legally available to anybody.
The trash is considered by business espionage professionals
as the single most available source of competitive and private
information from the average business. Any establishment that
discards private property data without the benefit of destruction
exposes itself to the risk of criminal and civil prosecution,
as well as the costly loss of business.
Why should stored records be
destroyed on a regular basis?
The period of time that business records are stored should
be determined by a retention schedule that takes into consideration
their useful value to the business and the governing legal
requirements. No record should be kept longer than this retention
period.
By not adhering to a program of routinely destroying stored
records, a company exhibits suspicious disposal practices
that could be negatively construed in the event of litigation
or audit.
Also, the new "Federal Rule 26" requires that,
in the event of a law suit, each party will provide all relevant
records to the opposing counsel within 85 days of the defendant's
initial response. If either of the litigants does not fulfill
this obligation, it could result in a summary finding against
them. By destroying records according to a set schedule, a
company appropriately limits the amount of materials it must
search through to comply with this law. From a risk management
perspective, the only acceptable method of discarding stored
records is to destroy them by a method that ensures that the
information is obliterated. Documenting the exact date that
a record is destroyed is a recommended legal precaution.
What is the difference between per
pound and per minute?
Clubshred favors pricing per pound rather that per minute.
Charging per minute provides great protection for the shredding
company, but can be very unfriendly to the customers. There
are subtle and not so subtle issues that should make for customer
cautions.
When charging per minute, the standard is to charge for the
time to collect and shred. Collection time depends on the
number of containers, types of containers and the distance
and obstacles (freight elevators) between them.
The more containers that can be placed, and the longer it
takes to collect the material, the more revenue can be generated,
while the sales pitch can tout it as customer service.
Even more importantly, total time depends on the number of
people doing the work. Most vendors who charge per minute
supply only one person per truck, perhaps because supplying
two would reduce the total billable time by 25-50%! Vendors
who charge per pound have an incentive to put a second person
on their trucks to get the job done quickly.
Some materials shred much slower than others, When charging
per minute, the shredding company is insulated from any impact-the
customer picks up the tab.
There is little incentive to upgrade equipment or find a
way to operate more efficiently. Faster service would only
mean decreased revenue.
Average on-site shredders shred 900 pounds per hour
Per minute: 2000 pounds average 2.2 hours @ $3.33 per minute
= $466.20
Per pound: 2000 pounds @ $0.16 per pound = $320
Per pound vs. per minute savings = $140
Why not just use the trashcan or dumpster
for disposal of records?
Without a program to control it, the daily trash of every
business contains information that could be harmful. This
information is especially useful to competitors because it
contains the details of current activities. Discarded daily
records include phone messages, memos, misprinted forms, drafts
of bids and drafts of correspondence.
All businesses suffer potential exposure due to the need
to discard these incidental business records. The only means
of minimizing this exposure is to make sure such information
is securely collected and destroyed.
Couldn't I recycle and get the same
results as shredding?
To extract the scrap value from office paper, recycling companies
use unscreened, minimum wage workers to extensively sort the
material under unsecured conditions. The "acceptable"
paper is stored for indefinite periods until there is enough
of a particular type to process. The sorted paper, still intact,
is then baled and sold to the highest bidder, often overseas,
where it may be stored again for weeks or even months until
it is finally used to make new products.
There is no fiduciary responsibility inherent in the recycling
scenario. Paper is given away or sold and, in doing so, a
company gives up the right to say how it is handled. There
is, also, no practical means of establishing the exact date
that a record is destroyed. In the event of an audit or litigation,
this could be a legal necessity. And further, if something
of a private nature does surface, the selection of this unsecured
process could be interpreted as negligent. For these reasons,
the choice of recycling as a means of information destruction
is undesirable from a risk management perspective.
If environmental responsibility is a concern, materials may
be recycled after they are destroyed or a firm can contract
a service that will destroy the materials under secure conditions
before recycling them. Any recycling company that minimizes
the need for security has its own interests in mind and should
be avoided.
Should I trust my documents to just
any shredding company?
Take the time to investigate the company you are dealing with.
A "Certificate of Destruction" is only as good as
the company that will be destroying your confidential information.
KNOW THE COMPANY YOU ARE DEALING WITH. Any company contracting
an information destruction service should require that it
provide them with a signed testimonial, documenting the date
that the materials were destroyed. The "certificate of
destruction", as it is commonly referred, is an important
legal record of compliance with a retention schedule. It does
not, however, effectively transfer the responsibility to maintain
the confidentiality of the materials to the contractor.
If private information surfaces after the vendor accepts
it, the court is bound to question the process by which the
particular contractor was selected. Any company not showing
the due diligence in their selection of a contractor that
is capable of providing the necessary security could be found
negligent.
From a risk management standpoint, if information is leaked
by the fraud or negligence of a vendor, their obligations
are irrelevant. The firm whose information falls into the
wrong hands stands to loose the most, either from the loss
of business, prosecution, or unfavorable publicity.
Since a business cannot transfer its responsibility to maintain
confidentiality, it must be certain that it is dealing with
a reputable company with superior security procedures. Unfortunately,
there are those information services that provide certificates
of destruction while having no semblance of security and,
in some cases, no destruction process available to them. Anyone
interested in contracting a data destruction service is advised
to thoroughly review their policies and procedures, conduct
an initial site audit and conduct subsequent unannounced audits.
Should I trust my record storage
company to destroy my documents?
Most commercial records storage facilities offer records destruction
as a service to their customers. However, in a survey conducted
by the National Association for Information Destruction, many
of those firms were found lacking the equipment necessary
to provide the services themselves. It is a common practice
in the industry to subcontract the destruction of records.
In some cases, disreputable storage firms were found misleading
their customer by charging for secure records destruction
while the materials were being sold to a recycling company
for scrap.
Any business using a commercial records storage firm should
inquire as to the nature of the destruction services that
are available. It is an unacceptable risk to permit a storage
firm to select a subcontractor to provide the records destruction
service. The owner of the records is ultimately responsible
for their security and, therefore should be selecting the
vendor directly.
Couldn't my own employees shred
my documents?
Common sense dictates that payroll information and materials
that involve labor relations or legal affairs should not be
entrusted to lower level employees for destruction. But beyond
that, competition sensitive information is best protected
from them as well. It has been established, time and again
that employees are the most likely to realize the value of
certain information to competitors. And, lower wage employees
often have the economic incentive to capitalize their success
on it. The only acceptable alternatives are to have the materials
destroyed under the supervision of upper management or by
a carefully selected, high security service.
How important is it to protect the
documents of Senior Management?
In a survey cited by the Association for Records Managers
and Administrators, Int'l, top executives from 300 companies
ranked the security of company records as one of the top five
critical issues facing business. When asked which issues required
immediate attention and policy development, the security of
company records ranked second only to employee health screening.
Information disposal is a crucial component of any records
security program. While most senior executives do not have
the time to become involved directly with this issue, it is
something that is obviously very important to them.
I have offices in several states.
Can Clubshred provide service to those locations too?
Clubshred provides service to all of Texas and can assist
you in finding service through out the United States.
Does Clubshred supply locking containers
for me to store my material in until I am ready for a pickup?
Yes, Clubshred has several containers for you to choose from.
All of which are secure and have an opening for you to deposit
material through.
What if I only need to use shredding
services one time?
Clubshred can help you for a one time service or if you need
routine shredding Clubshred can put you on a daily, weekly
or monthly schedule.
What happens to the material after
it is destroyed?
The paper that is destroyed is sent to a paper mill to be
recycled.
Do I have to remove rubber bands,
staples, paper clips or other types of paper fasteners?
No.
Click to Request
A Quote On Document Shredding
In Your Area
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888-747-3399
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