Harford County Department of Emergency Services Going Paperless; Effort Underway to Cut Paper Usage and Storage

From Harford County government:

The Harford County Department of Emergency Services (DES) is moving towards the “paperless office” environment. The initiative began in 2013 under the guidance of Director Russell J. Strickland.

The goal to reduce paper within the department began in the early fall of last year. Since then, the Hazardous Materials Response Team under the direction of Chief Michael Brunicke has cut paper storage and use by more than 95%. To date, the Hazardous Material Response Team has scanned more than 5,500 hazardous material incident reports, totaling more than 55,000 sheets of paper. The unit has scanned and purged files dating back to 1988.

Additionally, more than 5,000 SARA Title 3 reports dating back to the late 1980’s have been filed electronically and another 70,000 pages of reports and documents have been scanned, shredded or recycled.

Since the process started last fall, more than 400 staff hours have been dedicated to reducing paper within the department. Currently, the Training Division is working on transitioning from paper files and storage to electronic.

“Although going paperless has required significant staff hours to accomplish, the benefits are obvious. We have reduced our file and paper retention dating back more than 20 years, and will continue to work towards 100% compliance of a paperless office environment,” said Chief Brunicke.

Commenting on the initiative, Director Strickland said, “In the Report of the Commission to Study Efficiency and Economy in Government, the Commission recommended county government take steps to address the issue of paper files and storage. Our plan is to achieve the goal established by the Commission of e-archiving documents which will save us space, time and resources. We are well on our way to accomplish that goal,” Strickland added.