With modern life demanding so much of us, little things we should be doing often slip through the net. This could be something as simple as forgetting to do the washing up at night, or it could be something more important, like shredding our junk mail or old paperwork from the office. In fact, there are still people out there who believe that they don’t need to shred anything at all, or that they can achieve the same level of security with a pair of scissors and a black bin bag (spoiler, you can’t). But there are a few reasons why you should make shredding part of your daily routine in the office.
It’s The Law
The first and most important reason to remember to do your shredding – it’s a legal requirement. We don’t even need to talk benefits at this stage, it’s simply something you have to do. The Data Protection Act states that every business has a legal obligation to protect the confidential information of its customers and employees. As a sub clause of this act, organisations must routinely employ a data destruction service to destroy redundant confidential information, whatever format it is held in. As if that wasn’t enough, the Information Commissioner’s Office now has the power to fine your business up to £500,000 if you lose someone’s confidential information.
Time And Money
If you’ve decided that it’s time to your monthly shred, your next step is actually doing it. This is where a lot of businesses fall down, and where our confidential document destruction services come in handy. To illustrate, let’s look at your options:
- Give one of your employees the job of putting down their normal work and have them remove staples and paperclips from your shredding pile, sort card from paper and finally spend hours stood over the office shredder to get rid of it.
- Make a phone call to your certified confidential shredder, who will shred all of your documents in a matter of minutes using industrial machinery.
Be honest, you picked number 2 didn’t you? That’s because it makes no sense for you to spend time and money shredding materials instead of just making a phone call. For every 8 hours your poor employee spends shredding, our industrial machines can tackle the same volume of paper in just minutes, with no need to prepare the paper by removing staples or sorting. So instead have your staff doing the job you pay them for, and leave the shredding to the professionals.
Doing Your Bit For The Planet
Of course, we couldn’t give you reasons for shredding without mentioning the environment. If you went with option 1 earlier, what does your employee do with that paper when they’re finished? Many businesses would simply throw it away with the normal rubbish. But by using a certified shredder, we can protect your business and the environment at the same time. We recycle 99% of the paper we shred, promoting reuse and cutting down the need for new products to be made. For every tonne of paper, we recycle, 7000 gallons of water is saved, between 17 and 31 trees aren’t cut down, 4000 KWh of electricity is saved and 60 pounds of airborne pollutants are prevented from being released. How’s that for saving the environment?
It’s Common Sense!
No matter what type of business you run, you will be storing confidential data of some sort. Even everyday activates like creating invoices, providing your service to confidential clients or just writing up some meeting notes can generate a huge amount of data that needs to be protected. Just think about how disastrous it would be if one of your competitors got hold of your customer lists or quotes. Or worse, if a criminal found your financial records or employee data. All it takes is one smart criminal or one disgruntled employee and your business is at risk. But if you are routinely shredding sensitive documents, you are reducing the risk of this type of loss occurring.
So if you weren’t shredding your documents before, hopefully you will be now! Not only for the legal reasons, but also because of the hidden benefits to your business that shredding can unlock. For more information about our shredding service or to book your shredding slot, get in touch today.
