Every business deals in sensitive matters at one point or another. It is crucial do handle these matters in the most professional way. For instance, customer records need to be dealt with in a confidential and discrete manner. Day to day dealings within the company have to be recorded as well. All of these sensitive matters leave behind a paper trail, but what happens when this information is no longer useful? What is there to do when old company records are stacked in dusty piles, clearly in the way and ready to be disposed of? That is when proper document destruction has to come into play.

The United States government has put laws into place that outline how businesses are to handle confidential documentation. There are specific things that a company cannot do with these types of documents, even when the intent is to get rid of them. To comply with these laws, no unauthorized party can come in full contact with the confidential documents, they must be destroyed without being reread or recreated and upon destruction they must be undecipherable.

Here is how your company can safely destroy confidential information.

* Find a shredding company that deals in discrete document destruction.

This type of company is your best bet, because it most likely specializes in taking care of sensitive information. DO NOT attempt to dispose of confidential documents on your own. Do not try to shred them in a basic paper shredder; Your method will not be compliant with the law.

* Put the sensitive documents into secure containers.

Do not send your sensitive paperwork to the shredding company in a basic cardboard box. Most document destruction companies will deliver locked and secure containers to your business. These containers will have slots through which you enter the documents.

* The documents are taken away to be shredded.

Your documents will be handled by trained professionals who know how to deal with confidential paperwork. They will not be accessed by anyone between the time they enter the container and when they are shredded. Your documents will be fed through a fine shredder. These high-tech shredders operate very quickly and have the ability to shred your documents into very fine slivers of paper. The remains will the recycled in an environmentally friendly manner.

* You will receive a certificate of destruction.

The document destruction company is required to send you a certificate of destruction. In it you will have a chain of custody and a confirmation that your sensitive information was properly disposed of.