Once the life cycle of the record has reached an end, it is necessary to dispose of them.  Care must be taken to destroy the record in its entirety so that it cannot get into the wrong hands!

Often when we look around us we can see many instances where people might not have given a thought to disposing of records correctly.  A good example is when old documents are given to nursery schools etc to use as drawing paper!  The child draws on the blank side and takes the picture home to give to mommy and daddy and all they do is look on the other side of the drawing and they can get information that could be confidential!!!  Ensure when using old documents and printouts as scrap paper, that you check what is on the other side before leaving it lying around or passing it on to the nursery school!

Records must be either:

• purged i.e. deleted from the system (electronic records)
• shredded, pulverised or incinerated (paper records, microform and magnetic records)