Failing to Have a Destruction Policy: Is it Worth the Risk?

Like any other organizational policy, outlining your procedures for ensuring that documents are properly disposed of is integral to corporate due diligence.  However, it’s safe to say that for a great number of businesses, document destruction is a passing afterthought.  As a result, proper training and systems for information security are neglected across whole organizations.

Often, it’s only after a data breach occurs that companies feel the impetus to move forward with defining a document destruction program.  But a little forethought and planning can go a long way in reducing information security risks for your business.

You can start by educating your organization about why document destruction is important.  Outline the laws and regulations that affect your industry.  Discuss the impacts (financial, legal and personal) of failing to protect confidential and private information.  With identity theft at an all time high, you may even have associates within your organization that have been affected by having their personal information falling into the wrong hands.  Highlight how destruction of documents is an integral and necessary piece of the retention lifecycle and thus supports your business’ retention policies.

Implementing a policy can best be done with the help of a professional shredding company who can provide you with document destruction choices that best meet the needs of your organization.  If regular shredding has not been a common occurrence, you may need to begin with a one time shredding service to address files that are well beyond their retention period.  Subsequently, you can look at implementing a from-this-point-forward scheduled shredding program with your service provider.

If your company hasn’t implemented a formal document destruction program, what are you waiting for?  If confidential and private information falls into the wrong hands the stakes are high — legal liability, damaged public relations, and fines for non-compliance.  Is it really worth the risks?

Serving businesses throughout Ann Arbor, MI, Offsite Warehouse can help you implement a document destruction program customized to your business needs.  To find out more information please contact us by phone or fill in the form on the page.