Nancy:
If you are talking about paper records, then you can implement a procedure that physically moves a file from its current file classification to a chronological classification when it hits the event trigger. In your workman's comp example, a file would be moved when the case is closed (conceivably, documentation is noted or added to the file when the case closes so it would be touched and can be easily moved). The chronological classification should be set up by year, so you can go to the group of 3 year old files for destruction purposes.
Ginny Jones
(Virginia A. Jones, CRM, FAI)
Records Manager
Information Technology Division
Newport News Dept. of Public Utilities
Newport News, VA
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-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Freeman, Nancy - APHIS
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2012 3:03 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [RM] how to "flag" records for destruction
All,
I need some tips and hints to pass on regarding marking or flagging files for destruction. Here's the background and a refresh of who I am.
I work for a wildlife research facility which is part of the USDA, although we're several bureaucratic layers down. We're a small slice of government heaven, about 150 employees at headquarters and throughout the US. A staff person here is responsible for the Worker's Comp program and given our size, he does other duties too as our volume of Workers Comp files are small. As an aside, we have a small volume of just about every other type of record except research data. My dealings with Worker's Comp files are to make sure retention is followed, which is 3 years after the case is closed or when deadline for filing a claim has passed. (that's from our records management schedule and Worker's Comp Program.)
Our parent agency wants to standardize how agencies handle their Worker's Comp records and to that end, is developing a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). When I reviewed the SOP, I was troubled by a statement that "all files will be purged periodically according to a set schedule (to be determined.)" I said if the retention is 3 years, that's when destruction happens. The response back was that the every few years files will be purged. The reasoning is that since claims are initiated constantly and therefore have various start dates, they want to go through every file just once, rather than destroying cases one by one as they come across them if their 3 year period is up. I countered that what that means is that some files will be past retention by several years and that's not a good thing for all sorts of reasons
Now that I've set the situation up, here's where I need assistance. How do others flag or mark files so that it's easy to pull at the end of a retention year? That's the info this person needs, particularly for large amounts of records. I thought of color coding, moving files to a different drawer or area by year or something like that. What I need is to know what some of you do with files like this. What works for you? I know the case to make to her that what she proposes is problematic but I also want to be able to say "and here's exactly how you can make this happen to follow retention."
Many thanks and feel free to respond offline!
Nancy
Nancy Freeman, CA
Records Manager/Archivist
National Wildlife Research Center
4101 LaPorte Ave.
Fort Collins, CO 80521
Ph: (970) 266-602
Fax: (970) 266-6010
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