Tips for Moving Confidential & Sensitive Office Records

If you’re planning on moving your office, then you know you have a lot of materials that must be packed and transported—everything from the furniture to the computers to the files.

And this task can be gigantic, requiring the work of dozens of people even before the movers arrive. Planning is essential and you need to have all hands on deck to do their part to make sure the move is successful.

But if your business involves confidential work, such as insurance or medical records, you have to take an extra layer of precaution to ensure the move is a smooth one.

Here’s what you need moving an office with sensitive and confidential records:

• Find a company you trust

(Read our 6 tips on how to find a moving company you can trust)

One of the first steps you need with any move, regardless of what you’re transporting, is to find a moving company that you trust.

A few things you need to look for include reviews and credentials. Be sure to read through all the reviews carefully, paying special attention to any of those left by businesses. If the business doing the review is identified, you may even want to contact them if you have any other follow-up questions.

Additionally, you’ll want to verify a potential moving company’s credentials including that they are insured, bonded, and licensed in their field. This will show you which companies are legitimate and which ones are a fly-by-night enterprise of a couple guys with a moving van.

• Keep it simple

Keep everything with the move as simple as possible. Assign one person to be responsible for sensitive or confidential material. You may have teams working on moving all the equipment and other items from the office, but this is something that should be assigned to one person who can be trusted to get the job done. If you have a multitude of people assigned, you increase the chances records will get misplaced and mishandled.

• Keep accurate records

As you box up confidential files, create a detailed spreadsheet of what files are found in each box. After all the files are boxed, print the list and take it with you to the new location. Then unbox the materials and check off each file to make sure they are all present and accounted for. You definitely don’t want to move, put your files away, and then find out that files are missing months down the line.

• Do it yourself

If you’re worried about finding someone you can trust to move confidential files, you may wish to consider taking care of it yourself. Sure, you can hire movers for all the other equipment. But the confidential files can be moved by individuals in-house so outsiders don’t have access to the confidential records.

Follow These Steps for a Smooth Move

Moving confidential and sensitive records can be a logistical (and legal) problem for big companies. If just one file becomes lost or gets leaked, it can end a company’s reputation as someone who can’t be trusted. That’s why it’s important to ensure you follow these steps to keep your records safe.