Before you specify
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does the bin actually hold before it needs emptying?
HSM measures the 21.7 gallon (82 litre) container at approximately 1,002 shredded sheets at this cut size. That is around two and a half times the 415 sheets of the SECURIO B24 in the identical 4.5 x 30 mm cut. For a shared department of fifteen to twenty people doing routine confidential shredding, that usually works out to one empty a week rather than one a day, which is the practical reason most buyers step up from the B24.
Will it take 11 x 17 tabloid paper?
Yes. The feed throat is 12.2 in (310 mm) and tabloid is 11 in across the short edge, so it feeds without folding. Letter, legal and A4 all clear comfortably too. This is one of the clearer dividing lines in the HSM range: the B24 at 9.45 in cannot take tabloid, the B32 can, and the B35 at 15.75 in adds room for wider folded plan sheets.
Does it shred CDs, DVDs and credit cards?
Yes to all three. HSM rates this configuration O-3 for optical media and lists credit cards among the accepted materials alongside paper, staples and paper clips. Feed discs and cards individually rather than stacked. Be aware that optical media produces sharper, heavier waste than paper, so if you destroy discs in quantity it is worth emptying the container more often than the sheet count would suggest.
How many people can share one B32?
Ten to twenty-five is the realistic range for ordinary office volumes. The constraint is rarely the motor; it is queueing and emptying. At 14 to 16 sheets per pass and roughly 1,000 sheets to a bin, a department that shreds a few thousand sheets a month will be comfortable. If you are shredding continuously all day, or serving more than about thirty people, look at the B34 or B35, which pair a bigger bin with a wider throat.
What bags fit the B32?
HSM 34 gallon tear-resistant disposable bags, part 3310000004, sold on a 100 count roll; the same bag fits the Classic 125 and the SECURIO B26, B34 and AF500. There is also a reusable blue nylon shred bag, part 3NB210R03330, listed for the Classic 225 and the SECURIO B32 and B34 series, which pays for itself quickly on a high-turnover machine.
Is P-4 sufficient for HIPAA or GDPR-style personal data?
For ordinary personal data, P-4 is the level most policies and data protection guidance set as the minimum, and neither HIPAA nor GDPR names a specific DIN level in the regulation itself. What they require is that destruction be effective and irreversible. Where organisations run into trouble is with special category data such as health records, where internal policy and auditors commonly specify P-5. Check your own written standard before assuming P-4 clears it.
Is this shredder NSA approved?
No. NSA/CSS Specification 02-01 requires a maximum 1 mm x 5 mm particle plus listing on the NSA Evaluated Products List. The B32 at 4.5 x 30 mm is well outside that, and it is not on the EPL. If you have a classified US government destruction requirement, consult the current EPL and buy only from it. A DIN P rating, however high, is a commercial standard and does not satisfy an NSA requirement on its own.
Does it need oiling, and is an auto-oiler version available?
Cross-cut heads accumulate paper dust and benefit from periodic lubrication; follow the interval in the operating instructions supplied with the machine, since HSM does not publish a fixed schedule on the datasheet. HSM does build a variant of this exact model with an external automatic oiler fitted, which handles lubrication without anyone remembering to do it. On a shared departmental machine that is usually money well spent.