Shred on Site

Security and confidentiality have always had an important role to play in business success. However, today, we live in a corporate climate that is intolerant of poor data protection and exploitative when it comes to exposure of sensitive information. That’s why document shredding has a vital role to play in your business success.

Legal compliance

Since 25^th May this year, the GDPR has introduced a new compliance regime for businesses handling data. It’s no longer acceptable to handle data and hope that it won’t end up in the wrong hands – there are severe penalties for those businesses not taking proactive steps to ensure that this doesn’t happen. Shredding paper documents is the only way to ensure that the data in those documents doesn’t end up in the wrong hands. Secure on-site shredding means that documents never leave the building without behind destroyed first, limiting the opportunities for data to be stolen or exposed. With the GDPR introducing fines of up to €20 million or 4% of turnover, safe document disposal processes like shredding could be crucial to ongoing business success.

Corporate social responsibility and green credentials

Consumers today are much more interested in what businesses do with their paper waste. Many customers make proactive choices about who to buy products from based on whether or not those businesses have socially responsible policies in place and can demonstrate that steps have been taken towards reducing environmental impact. Shredding on site is a simple way to boost your green credentials and support socially responsible business practices and policies. Shredded documents are easily recycled, meaning that the paper that your business disposes of doesn’t end up in landfill. While this may seem like a small change, it could contribute to attracting new customers and cementing relationships with those that you already have.

Sensitive information and competitive practices

Every business has sensitive information and protecting it could be key to ensuring that the company remains competitive. If you want to ensure that critical business information is not being exposed in a way that could benefit your competitors then shredding is the only sensible option. From confidential memos to plans and prototype documents, if you’re shredding these on site before they leave your premises then they can never benefit your competitors and will only contribute to your success.

Business security

Businesses today are incredibly vulnerable to attack – and not just online. “Bad actors,” such as cybercriminals, will look for every opportunity to breach a network or break into premises or systems. From lost documents to unsecured recycling bins, there are many points in the process of paper handling when this could happen. With a random employee’s password noted down on an email with their name on, it would be simple for someone to get in to your system and access all the data there. Data breaches affect reputation and client trust and can be incredibly costly to rectify – they are a significant barrier to success that is well worth preventing by introducing an on site shredding policy.

We offer shredding services designed to support your business success – contact us to find out more.

Author: Mark Coombes, Follow me on Google+