Specialist

 Think of shredding if you think of a secure office environment.Not many people associate security with shredders, so understanding the necessity of shredding to maintain a secure office environment may sound like a new concept.

This day and age, it is not uncommon to fall victim to identity theft or scams that result from stolen information or documents. Companies need to take great care in the way they destroy their confidential paperwork in order to protect themselves and their customers.

The #1 rule for security in the office is to immediately shred documents when they’re no longer needed. Don’t put it off for a day, or even an hour. This is the type of thing that can slip your mind and lead to serious and irreversible repercussions.

It is also not just clients who need protecting. You also have the legal right to protect your employee’s information. You need to ensure you are discarding voided cheques, old payslips, time cards, health records, passport pictures, PPS numbers, driver’s licences… All of these personal pieces of information need to be disposed of by shredding.

Shredding for a Secure Office Environment
Take a minute to look around your office. Do you really need all of that paperwork sitting around? If you find yourself looking for desk space among stacks of paper, then you should really start clearing up some space by shredding and recycling what you don’t need. If you are unsure of what a document is and are planning to just throw it in the recycle bin, maybe you should try shredding it instead. You will never know what information can be used for identity theft, so think to shred for a secure office environment.

The main types of documents that should definitely go through the shredder are as follows:

  • Tax returns
  • Photo IDs
  • Bank statements
  • Voided checks
  • Employee pay slips
  • Credit card information
  • Copies of sales receipts
  • Documents containing sensitive information such as name, address, phone number or email
  • Employment records

By shredding your documents you will give company owners and customers peace of mind by knowing that their private information has been destroyed permanently. On top of this, every employee should be educated and trained to highlight the importance of data security in the office. There should also be procedures and policies that are in effect to protect personal and confidential data from the time it is created, to the time it is shredded and then recycled.

Article supplied by Highline Office Technology