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Volume 10, Issue 2
March / April 2013
Security Shredding Storage News
Serving the Security Shredding & Paper Recovery Markets Visit us online at www.securityshreddingnews.com
ATTENTION: READERS ! Are you looking for Products, Equipment or Services for your business? If so, please check out these leading companies advertised in this issue: Collection & Storage Containers Big Dog Shred Bins – 8 Bomac Carts - pg 10 Jake, Connor & Crew – pg 5 Equipment Financing Trans Lease, Inc. – pg 6 Lock & Locking Systems Lock America Intl. – pg 12 Mobile Truck Shredders Alpine Shredders Ltd – pg 14 Shred-Tech Limited – pg 7 ShredFast – pg 16 Vecoplan LLC – pg 6
Rules, Regs, Planning Needed When Going from Shred to Med
Moving Floor System Keith Manufacturing – pg 7 Replacement Parts ShredSupply – pg 16 Routing Software eRouteIt – pg 12 Stationary Shredders & Grinders Allegheny Shredders – pg 5 Schutte-Buffalo Hammer Mill, LLC – pg 15 UNTHA America – pg 11 Vecoplan LLC – pg 6 WEIMA America – pg 9 Waste commodity purchasers Commodity Resource & Environmental – pg 8 Dan-Mar Components – pg 14 Web Design Chachka Group – pg 12 NetGain SEO – pg 8
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By P.J. Heller
PRSRT STD U.S. Postage
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Mentor, OH PRSRT STD Permit No. 2 U.S. Postage
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hile document destruction companies may be well positioned to expand into the medical waste industry, careful planning and a clear understanding and knowledge of the rules and regulations of that market are essential for success, according to experts in the field. Issues ranging from how to break into a market that is dominated by one player to figuring out where to have medical waste treated are among the challenges, not to mention having to deal with federal and varying state regulations. “It’s not that complex,” says Alan Rosenauer, president and publisher of Compliance Publishing Corp. “You just have to do your homework. There are very specific rules for hauling medical waste. You have to make sure that you’re following those rules. “They are not daunting,” says Rosenauer, whose Edina, Minn.-based company provides state and federal regulatory information to more than 55,000 customers worldwide. “You just have to make sure you follow them correctly and don’t take any shortcuts. If you follow it step-by-step, there’s no reason why any company can’t start a medical waste business.” But, he adds, “Nothing is as easy as it looks. If it was that easy, everybody would be doing it. It‘s not like you can go out there, put out an ad and say, ‘Okay, I’ll pick up your medical waste’ and a whole bunch of people will just come flocking to you.” Among the barriers that shredding companies need to overcome when attempting to get into the medical waste industry is dealing with tighter insurance regulations due to the fact that they will be handling a highly regulated material. They
also will need to provide blood-borne pathogen training for their employees, and will have to understand rules surrounding manifests, including the requirement to retain those documents for three years. “If you’re just dealing with a few hundred pieces of paper, fine,” says Rosenauer of those manifests. “But when you have hundreds of customers, over the course of a year you’re dealing with thousands of these documents . . . Because it’s a highly regulated industry, you basically have to file a lot more paperwork.” Regulations can vary from state to state, with some, such as those in California, being more stringent. “Each state has its own requirements,” notes Roger Thielman, a sales representative with LB Medwaste Services of Wausau, Wis., which serves
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Inside This Issue
5 Security Risk Assessment: Five Steps to Completing a Security Risk Matrix
10 Rethinking Recycling Journal Invites
Industry to Uncover the Facts Behind the Full Paper Life Cycle
12 Colorado Law Bans Electronics Waste
14 Second HIPAA Breach at Mississippi Hospital