Residential Shredding During COVID-19

Apr 3, 2020

With many businesses turning to remote working conditions so daily work can continue, employees are faced with some important responsibilities. One of these is the fact that they are now going to be producing secure business records right at home, instead of the workplace.

This does have the side effect of transferring more of the responsibility to those home workers. In order to stay on top of information compliance while working remotely during COVID-19, you need to get the same kind of secure shredding service at your home that you would expect to get while at work. Fortunately, residential shredding services have always been set up to do exactly that.

Your Responsibilities

This may be the first time that many individuals have to actively work from home, so taking some precautions will be new and unfamiliar. One of the first things you should do is set up a good system to keep your business records separate from your personal records (though it is a good idea to shred those as well). This will prevent anything from being forgotten and mixed up where it should not be. It is very important for you to remember that you are responsible for the safety of these records, so to that end, find some secure storage.

As unlikely as it might seem that something might happen to the records right in your home, if something should happen, like a spilled cup of coffee or overeager recycling helper, you are responsible. Choose a place to keep them that is secure, like a safe or another lockable container that is not easily snaffled. Consider the benefits of the philosophy: “Out of sight, out of mind.” No one can think about the goodies that might be hidden in your nice, secure container if they don’t even know that it’s a thing.

It’s best not to hold on to documents for too long. Do so only for as long as is absolutely necessary, then shred them properly. Make sure to use your secure storage place for retention when necessary. Should your documents have different retention periods, it is best to have several secure containers.

Shredding Right At Home

There comes a time when the document’s retention period is up, or maybe never existed in the first place. Either way, it is time for the shredder to come. Since we already have a residential shredding service available, this is the obvious option for the current circumstances. Reach out, set up a time, date, and location, and the shred truck will arrive.

There are few changes given the social distancing that should be observed. In order to limit direct contact, it is advisable to take the following procedure to heart. Have the records for shredding gathered and ready to go near the front door, but not outside, so the driver can grab them easily. Keep back to the CDC recommended safe distance for the safety of yourself and the driver. Feel free to come outside and observe the process as usual, still keeping your distance, since the shredding takes place safely at the curbside.

Despite the new circumstances, secure shredding is still available to you and still required by law for those working at home. By helping each other out, we’ll all get through this on better footing.

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