The latest addition to the records toolkit is the new Risk Management Guide for Disposal of Records. This 16 page guide aims to help staff manage records at public offices and local authorities understand the risks of not disposing of records. The guide also outlines the benefits that implementing a disposal regime brings to the organisation.
The new guide has two main sections. The Guide section describes the risks and benefits of proper disposal and the Workbook puts these risks and benefits into a workplace context.
For public offices no disposal can take place unless it is authorised by a Disposal Authority (DA). A DA should not be just be a mandate for Disposal. Instead it should be a tool that actively supports the needs of the public office and a central element of a records management strategy. The new guide emphasises the role a DA and disposal in general should play in how an organisation manages its records and information.
There are risks in over-retention of records. If an organisation does not implement a disposal process over-retention is a natural result. An organisation needs to understand the records it creates and assess which records need to be kept and which do not. Without this understanding the temptation is to retain everything ‘just to be safe’.
The guide details the risks of over retention. Holding onto records brings a number of risks for an organisation including:
• compliance with relevant information, security and privacy legislation
• cost savings on staff time used and storage
• better identification of opportunities and threats for information assets
• effective management of information assets and records
• lowered risk of business inefficiency caused by over-retention of records of low business value and use.
In addition to identifying the risks the guide outlines how to mitigate them. Setting a disposal policy, integrating it as part of the regular business of the organisation and adhering to the policy can mitigate these risks
The Workbook section includes a Risk Matrix. This tool can be used to assess the severity and urgency of the problems that can arise from not implementing a disposal regime.
The Workbook gives examples of the kinds of situations that an organisation can face and how to rate their risks using the risk matrix
The Risk Management Guide for Disposal of Records is recommended to any staff at a public office or local authority who are working with their organisation’s records. Further advice and guidance is available on the records toolkit in the Resources and Guides and the Disposal pages under the Working With Us section. We also welcome any questions by email at rkadvice@dia.govt.nz