Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland are like one huge uninterrupted mid-sized city that has continued to grow despite the economic recession of the late 2000s. The cities boast the largest high school in Washington State as well as a growing and active airport, theatre, planetarium, annual events, minor league baseball team, major junior hockey club, golf courses and seven river front parks. NASA Astronaut Kayla Barron, actor Terrence Knox (Tour of Duty), and musician Nate Mendel (Foo Fighters) all herald from the Tri-Cities.
With such a healthy and great economy comes an abundance of businesses, hospitals, public schools, colleges, and universities. Each of these organizations are generators of personal information that needs to be protected and eventually destroyed. The Tri-Cities are also the home of many shredding companies that are ready and willing to help your business actually accomplish this destruction. But how do you choose the right one? If you choose one that follows these guidelines, you’ll make a good decision.
Knows and Embraces Compliance Laws
A good document shredding company can distinguish which privacy laws apply to your unique organization and ensure they follow the required laws to keep your company complaint. This is important for the privacy of employees and clients as well as the reputation of your company.
Quality Trained Staff
You can only get the best quality and results from staff members who were background checked when hired and undergo regular training. You can feel confident leaving your sensitive documents in the hands of trustworthy individuals who are knowledgeable, experienced and trained in the data destruction industry.
NAID AAA Certified
NAID is the standard-setting body in the secure data destruction industry, and they certify only companies that meet the highest standards. NAID evaluates companies through scheduled and surprise audits. Choose a shredding company that displays the NAID logo on their website.
Chain of Custody
Document destruction is a process that must be done securely. From the moment your staff members discard their sensitive documents to the time when they are completely destroyed beyond recognition, this process needs to be documented from start to finish. At the completion of the process, a reputable shredding company will provide a Certificate of Destruction as final proof of proper secure disposal.
Shred Collection Containers
A shredding company that provides shredding services should also provide a variety of shred collection containers to fit your needs. These can be left onsite so your staff can safely deposit sensitive documents into them. These containers are securely locked until they are emptied by a qualified shredding company employee prior to destruction.
Recycling
Your community is important to you and so is the environment, so it’s vital that when choosing a good shredding company, you know that they recycle 100% of your shredded material. With every ton of paper recycled, 17 trees are saved, and three cubic yards of landfill space will remain empty.
Scheduled or One Time Shredding
Your needs are likely unique and don’t fit a one-size-fits-all mentality. Because of that, your shredding needs are somewhere between a one-time shred or purge and regular scheduled shredding. Be sure to find a shredding service that offers you a range of services.
Paper, Hard Drives and Media
Your company deals with more than just paper. You may have hard drives, microfilm, tapes, CDs or flash drives that will eventually come to the end of their lives and need to be destroyed. Choose a company that is a one-stop-shredder of all these things.
Stay Local!
Tri-Cities, Washington is home to a growing economy and the home of CI Information Management in Kennewick. We follow all of the above shredding guidelines so you can trust us with your sensitive documents and still keep your business local. Take a moment to call us at 509-586-6090 to discover how we are the best choice for your company’s shredding needs. If you aren’t able to call, please complete the form on this page and we’ll get back to you right away.
