The Top Excuses for Not Shredding Documents

Businesses are responsible for protecting customer information. But despite the growing number of news headlines about corporate data breaches, many organizations still make excuses for not shredding documents. In this blog, we share the top five excuses and explain why you should make document shredding part of your corporate information security strategy.

Shredding’s Not That Important

When done the right way, document shredding protects your employees and clients from identity theft and helps your business avoid the risks and consequences of a corporate data breach. Breach notification costs, non-compliance fines, and negative press coverage can permanently damage your company.

I Don’t Have Time

In-house shredding is time-consuming. Destroying even one file in an office paper shredder involves several steps, including:

1. Removing paperclips, staples, sticky notes, cardstock, and file folder or binder
2. Separating the file into easily-shredded portions
3. Feeding each sheet into the shredder
4. Emptying the shredding receptacle
5. Cleaning up spilled bits of shredded material
6. Tossing the bag of shredded paper in the dumpster

A secure shredding service eliminates hours wasted each month standing over an office shredder, so you stay productive.

I May Need Them Later

Keeping documents longer than necessary puts your customers’ and employees’ privacy at risk. With a document retention policy, you can safely shred your documents when they reach their final disposition dates. A trusted document shredding provider issues a Certificate of Destruction, giving you a verifiable record of destruction.

I Recycle Instead

Recycling and corporate social responsibility go hand in hand. But if documents land in recycling bins without being destroyed first, your identity theft and business fraud risks multiply.

With outsourced shredding, your shredding provider bales your shredded documents and transfers them to an authorized recycling partner. At the recycling plant, the shredded material is pulped and used to produce a wide variety of paper products. That way, you never sacrifice security at the expense of environmental sustainability.

I Can’t Afford It

Using in-house shredding machines is expensive, that’s for sure. Beyond the cost of shredding machines, there’s ongoing maintenance, repair, and labor costs to consider. When your employees shred documents in-house, depending on their hourly wage, you may be paying up to 32 times more per hour for them to shred than by outsourcing your shredding to a qualified provider.

With outsourced shredding, locked collection containers placed in your office enable your employees to dispose of documents quickly and securely, with minimal interruption to their core responsibilities. It’s a much more affordable solution for destroying your confidential information.

So enough with the excuses…start shredding your documents today!

Richards & Richards offers secure document shredding and media destruction services for businesses throughout Nashville.