New European Information Destruction Standards BS EN 15713:2009, replacing BS8470.

1st September 2009


 

The Information Destruction Section of the British Security Industry Association has welcomed the publication of a new European Standard for the sector - EN 15713:2009.

BSIA members have played an integral role in the development of the document which was initially written as a BSIA code of practice and then became a British Standard, before finally being developed into a European Standard.

BSIA Information Destruction Section Chairman, Russell Harris, comments: "The BSIA Information Destruction is proud to have been at the forefront of developing standards for the sector which will now have an influence Europe-wide. The standard itself is testament to the hard work of BSIA members and their European counterparts and I urge end-users to specify the standard when procuring information destruction services."

"The new standard, EN 15713:2009, outlines the key requirements of a professional information destruction company and security is integral to this. Only by using an information destruction company that is inspected to the new standard, will customers be able to rest assured that their confidential material is in safe hands. BSIA members will be amongst the first to work to the standard."

The new standard covers the following areas: material specific shred sizes; requirements regarding the installation of a monitored intruder alarm and a monitored CCTV system; a prerequisite for the security vetting of all staff to national standards (for example in the UK the national standards are BS7858); and obligations with regard to the security of collection vehicles and on-site destruction vehicles.  

It is hoped that the development of this new standard will provide further reassurance to customers that by using a member of the BSIA, they are placing their confidential data into the hands of a professional company. 

 

All BSIA information destruction section members must hold ISO 9001:2008 accreditation, and will then be inspected to the new standard EN 15713: 2009 as part of their ISO accreditation audit procedure.

 

Further guidance notes will be issued on our website soon, although please do not hesitate to contact us should you wish to discuss in more detail.

 

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