The Top Reasons to Outsource Your Shredding and Destruction

Destroying your confidential documents with an office paper shredder may seem like a simple, innocuous, and even mundane process. But scratch the surface and you realize there’s more than meets the eye. In-house shredding can have serious, negative impacts on your business. Here are the top reasons to outsource the shredding and destruction of your sensitive information.

Enhance Privacy and Security

It’s easy to take the privacy and security of your information for granted when you destroy your documents in-house. You want to trust that your employees are shredding information promptly and securely, but it’s impossible to have full confidence when your staff has to rely on an office paper shredder for document destruction. Office paper shredders are problematic for a variety of reasons:

• They are slow and inefficient to use
• Paper jams and other maintenance issues are common
• Shredding blades and receptacles have a limited capacity

These negative factors make your employees less likely to actually use an office paper shredder and more likely to just toss sensitive documents in the trash. And when office shredders are used, all shredded material is typically tossed in a trash or recycling bin, increasing the chances it may be stolen and compromised.

Outsourced shredding and destruction offers a more secure document disposal solution. Locked shredding collection containers replace your office paper shredders. Employees can quickly drop sensitive files through a slot in the container without having to remove folders, staples or paper clips. On a scheduled or as-needed basis, screened, uniformed and badged professionals empty your containers, and transport your documents to a shredding plant for secure, offsite destruction or shred them onsite with a mobile shredding vehicle. A strict chain of custody is maintained at all times.

Reduce Equipment and Labor Costs

There are initial expenses and ongoing costs associated with in-house shredding, which over time, can lower your business profitability. Office shredders must be purchased, maintained, and frequently replaced. The costs increase even more when time-consuming shredding responsibilities fall on your employees. When they have to remove staples and paper clips from a document to shred it, fix a paper jam or empty a shredding receptacle, time is taken away from revenue producing tasks. Outsourced shredding and destruction eliminates the need to buy office paper shredders and pay your employees to destroy documents.

Ensure Regulatory Compliance

Outsourcing your shredding and destruction ensures compliance with state and federal regulations, including:

• The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
• The Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACTA)
• The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)
• The Grimm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB)

Each law levies stiff fines and penalties on companies that fail to create documented information destruction policies. An outsourced shredding and destruction solution helps your business avoid the repercussions of non-compliance by issuing a Certificate of Destruction each time your documents are destroyed.

Destroying your confidential documents is a must, but you don’t have to sacrifice privacy, productivity and money to do so. Outsourced shredding and destruction offers an affordable and efficient solution for keeping your information safe.

Pacific Records Management provides records and information management services for businesses throughout Fresno, Stockton, Sacramento, Modesto, and Napa and Solano Counties. For more information, please contact us by phone or complete the form on this page.