Commercial Spring Cleaning

If you are going to be cleaning out your documents and getting rid of those you no longer need, you will have varying legal, tax, and regulatory requirements to consider, depending on your type of business. By continuously and securely destroying confidential data, you can safeguard your business, employees, and customers against identity theft, and protect your reputation. We will take a look at things to consider when deciding what to save and what to shred.

Have a Records Retention/Destruction Policy

The first step to making sure that you remain in compliance with all regulations is to have a records retention/document destruction policy and schedule in place for company, customer, and employee records. If you already have a policy and schedule in place, that is great. If not, this is the time to begin.

We have a guide for records retention on our site to help our customers determine what they need to keep and for how long before designating items for shredding or destruction. It is available at

We also provide fact sheets on government regulations for maintaining documentation, including  the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACTA) the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA),and  the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

What to Destroy and When

Any documents that contain sensitive information should be destroyed as soon as they are no longer needed for business, regulatory, or legal purposes. Don’t forget about non-paper items such as CDs and DVDs, X-rays, prototypes and product samples, and even uniforms. When in the wrong hands, uniforms can be used to facilitate all sorts of illegal activity.

If you have never done this before, if you are behind in records destruction, or you just need some help figuring it all out, our Raleigh shredding experts can help you and your company plan, implement, and manage a complete business document shredding solution. You can call us  at 866-747-3387, contact a local Shred America office, or chat with us online at https://info.shredamerica.com/contact-us. Our experts can help answer your questions, and give you a quote. We have shredding services in Dallas and other major cities throughout the South.  Just click on your state on the “Find Location” tab to locate the office nearest you.

Some Guidelines for Organizing your Documents

Limit the number of employees who have access to files and storage closets. Make sure that you have clear written guidelines in place for personnel. Make sure that those guidelines are updated whenever laws and regulations change, and that employees receive regular training and updates.

Clearly mark a destruction date and the contents on each box so that documents can be located if you need them, and removed when it is time for destruction. Some business owners prefer to keep the oldest documents where they are easily accessible since they will be the first to be shipped out. If they are used regularly, however, it may be best to keep the most recent documents in front.

Whether we handle your paper shredding in Raleigh, NC, VA, LA, or any of our other locations, you can be sure that not only will your documents be securely destroyed, but that paper items will be recycled rather than ending up in a landfill. We offer a range of services to business, whether you need us to provide locked bins and containers, or you would like to get on one of our routes for regular collection of your sensitive documents.