Keeping Watch

Destruction is only half of the secure destruction equation. Customers of secure document shredding companies rely on their service providers to ensure that their material is being safely destroyed. With identity theft on the rise and the secure shredding industry booming to match, customers can’t afford to just take a shredder’s word for it.

"You have to show the customer that you’re protecting their documents," says Bill Jaramski, facilities manager for IPSA of Chicago.

Secure document destruction companies show their customers they mean business when it comes to security in a number of ways, including using fences, intricate alarm systems and constant video surveillance.

Each plant’s security arsenal differs depending on the layout, but they all have one thing in common: As business gets bigger, security measures get tighter and more sophisticated.

The foundation of any good plant-based security system is access control: keeping unauthorized individuals out of the facility itself, according to Nate Segall, vice president of AccuShred in Toledo, Ohio. "You can’t just have anyone walking around with access to this information," he says.

The audit form for AAA Certification from the National Association of Information Destruction (NAID), Phoenix, requires that "unauthorized access to the designated secure destruction area and client records is effectively prevented," but it doesn’t specify how, giving individual plants the freedom to control access to their facilities in their own ways.

Depending on the layout of the plant, a simple fence could be the first step to keeping outsiders outside.

Allshred Services in Maumee, Ohio, takes the traditional approach to security at its new facility, which has been in operation since February 2005, with 10-inch concrete walls and a perimeter fence, says Tom Huth, vice president of operations.

The perimeter at Allshred’s plant takes security a step further with a key-card access system for drivers to enter or exit the facility.

Adding a little electricity is another way to boost a fence’s security impact, says Joel Litman of Action Shred in Dallas. Part of the fence around his facility is electrified overnight.

However, swipe cards, whether used to open fences or for actual access to the facility, are among the most popular pieces of security equipment. A fence can be climbed by anyone, but a swipe card system offers a plant more controlled access to the actual facility. With a fence, "all you’re doing is keeping people out of your parking lot," says Ron Mason of Rohn Industries in Minneapolis. Mason says it’s better to concentrate on the facility itself when setting up a security system.

The card reader system employed by Mason’s company assigns each employee specific hours when he or she is allowed in the building.

For instance, Mason says, someone who typically works the day shift won’t be able to get into the building during the night shift. "There’s only certain windows of opportunity that a person can have access to the facility," he says.

An added security bonus to the swipe card system is that managers can keep track of who is coming and going from their facilities and at what time, according to Segall.

In addition, NAID requires its AAA-certified companies to use a sign-in system for visitors, a practice that should be strictly adhered to, according to many plant managers.

NAID specifies that each visitor entering a secure document destruction facility must sign a log with his or her name, time entered, affiliation and time exited. A plant employee must also escort them at all times.

Jaramski recommends making visitor logs as detailed as possible. Visitors at his IPSA facilities are required to enter who they’ve come to see and why, in addition to other pertinent information like their name, company affiliation and the time of their visit.

No matter how tightly controlled it may be, no access system is perfect, which is where alarms come in.

Jaramski recommends using as many alarms as possible. His plants are covered inside and out with alarms that are hooked into motion detectors, glass breaking and open doors.

"I’m a security freak, the more [alarms] I have, the better I like it," Jaramski says. "We’re in the security business. If you don’t have the security, you’re not a high-security shredder."

Jaramski’s plants are covered by a combination of audible alarms and a silent one that notifies the police in case of a break in.

Police monitoring is an essential feature to any alarm system, says Segall. "You need to be wired in to the local authorities," he says.

The alarm system at AllShred notifies Huth at home or on his cell phone if it goes off, he says.

Segall also recommends using heat sensors in addition to motion detectors to trip an alarm and covering all exit and entry points. "You never know how someone is going to try to get in," he says.

An audible alarm should always be included, according to Mason. "We want to make as much noise as possible," he says.

Jaramski agrees, "If someone breaks in, the noise alone will scare them away."

But security doesn’t stop with controlling access to the plant—once people are inside, managers need ways to monitor them and their activities. Plant managers use cameras to keep an electronic eye on things.

Camera systems are required for NAID certification, although the number of cameras isn’t specified. Allshred’s Huth says his facility uses 13 cameras that cover every point of entry and exit in the facility as well as areas where material is handled or unloaded.

Camera systems do more than keep an eye out for intruders. Many in the secure shredding industry are turning their closed-circuit monitoring systems into a new service feature by allowing customers to access the images—usually over the Web—to actually watch their material being destroyed.

"It’s not mandatory, but some people are offering it," says Segall of the service.

Allshred offers the service, and Huth says it’s a mixed bag when it comes to customers taking advantage of the offer. "Some do, some don’t," he says. "It’s an extra confidence builder for them."

Mason’s Rohn Industries also offers the service and has seen a similarly mixed response. He says many clients ultimately go with the company they trust after initially checking a facility out and don’t feel the need to actually witness shredding on a regular basis. Other customers, he says, are eager to see it for themselves.

Whether they offer closed-circuit viewing or live witness shreds, secure document destruction companies are willing to open their doors to have customers inspect their security systems, although many managers say it’s not often done.

"Most of that [inspection] is done in the initial bidding process," says Mason. However, Mason says that for a company to maintain its NAID AAA certification, it has to undergo an annual audit. Mason says his customers are usually very interested in the results of that audit.

Cameras play in important role in mobile operations, too, David Kantor of Global Shred in Indianapolis says.

Kantor says his company—a strictly mobile operation—uses ShredTech trucks, equipped with cameras so that his customers can see that everything has been shredded.

Simple steps, like making sure trucks are never left unlocked or unguarded, are also vitally important for a company operating mobile shred trucks, according to Jaramski.

For mobile operations, Allshred’s Huth recommends security uniforms for drivers "to give that extra sense of security that we just don’t send somebody out in jeans and a T-shirt."

In the plant, cameras serve another additional purpose, according to many plant managers: keeping an eye on employees.

Employees at Rohn Industries’ shredding plant know the cameras are on them at all times, Mason says. "Just knowing that acts as a deterrent," he remarks.