Shredding Glossary

The terms you will see on our site, on a competitor's quote, and in the regulations.

Purge shredding

A one-time job for a backlog of paper, as opposed to scheduled recurring service.

Recurring service

Locked containers placed at your location and emptied on a set schedule.

On-site (mobile) shredding

Destruction performed at your location in a shredding truck, witnessed. The opposite of off-site, where paper is collected and destroyed later at a plant.

Certificate of destruction

A signed document recording the date, method and volume of material destroyed. Your proof for auditors and regulators.

Chain of custody

The documented path of your records from your hands to destruction. Shorter is safer; on-site shredding makes it minutes.

Console

A locked cabinet-style container, usually holding about 100 lbs of paper, that looks like office furniture.

64-gallon bin

A locked wheeled container holding about 200 lbs, for back rooms and higher-volume areas.

Banker's box

The standard 15 x 12 x 10 inch file box, about 30 lbs of paper when full. Our unit of pricing.

Cross-cut / particle-cut

Shredding that cuts paper in two directions into small pieces, rather than strips. Strips can be reassembled; particles cannot.

Business Associate Agreement (BAA)

The contract HIPAA requires between a healthcare provider and any vendor that handles protected health information, including a shredding company.

PHI

Protected health information: anything that connects a person to a health detail, on paper or otherwise.

Disposal Rule

The FTC rule under FACTA requiring anyone who uses consumer credit reports to destroy them so they cannot be read or reconstructed.

Safeguards Rule

The FTC rule under GLBA requiring financial institutions to have a written security program, including secure disposal within two years of last use.

Retention schedule

A written list of how long each type of record is kept and when it is destroyed.

NAID AAA

An industry certification for destruction companies. We are not currently NAID certified; our process is on-site, witnessed and documented, which is what the regulations actually require.