Nowadays, more and more companies are transitioning to electronic data storage. While this poses some risks, keeping documents safe and adequately disposing of them is much easier. Nevertheless, many businesses are still legally required to keep paper files. That, in turn, poses significant risks for the company and its clients. For instance, if you simply throw away documents you no longer need, unauthorized third parties could gain access to confidential information. Thus, you should consider hiring a shredder company that safeguards all sensitive information. Otherwise, here’s what can happen if you don’t dispose of important documents properly.
No. 1 Putting your employees at risk is what can happen if you don’t dispose of important documents properly
If you own a business, your employees are your biggest asset. Without them, it would be impossible for you to run a successful business. As a result, protecting them should be a top priority for you. We’re not just talking about providing them with a safe work environment but also protecting their personal information.
Businesses handle a lot of documents that include sensitive information about their employees. Everything from copies of their IDs and health records to their paychecks and time cards must be properly safeguarded. Of course, you’ll have to dispose of some or all of these documents sooner or later. When this moment comes, ensure you shred them instead of throwing them in the trash. Otherwise, you’ll put your employee’s privacy at risk.
No. 2 It constitutes a fire hazard for your office
As we’ve already mentioned, you’re responsible for protecting your staff’s privacy and ensuring their safety at work. Thus, it’s important to note that improper disposal of documents can also pose a safety risk for your employees. PrStoringrge volumes of paper files is a fire hazard for your office. One lit match can make the entire premises go into flames.
Firstly, to reduce the fire hazard, you should immediately dispose of any documents you no longer need by shredding them. Unfortunately, this is not enough, because you’ll still have to keep many paper files. That’s why the consultants from bestlongdistancemovers.com advise you to rent storage for all those documents. That will ensure the safety of your office and your files.
No. 3 You’ll expose your customers to the risk of identity theft
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2018, around 9% of people over 16 were victims of identity theft. And the number of cases has continued to increase over the past four years. Therefore, this represents a primary concern nowadays.
While some might think that this is strictly related to tracking electronically stored data, it is not. If an unauthorized person gets their hands on a printed document containing personal information, it’s even easier to steal that person’s identity.
The problem is that businesses store and dispose of many documents containing sensitive customer information. Therefore, if you’re not careful, exposing your customers to the risk of identity theft is what can happen if you don’t dispose of important documents properly. That will hurt both them and your company’s reputation. But don’t worry. Document shredding protects your customers from such incidents.
No. 4 It increases the risk of intellectual property theft
Besides identity theft, ineffective document disposal also increases the risk of intellectual property theft. More precisely, your company might gain access to sensitive information about a customer’s business. That could include trade secrets about a product they haven’t launched yet. If one of their competitors gets their hands on documents including such information, they can quickly reproduce the product and launch it sooner. That, in turn, can destroy your customer’s company.
No. 5 You’ll expose your company to severe penalties
If your company provides legal, financial, or healthcare services, you must properly dispose of important documents. Non-compliance with such laws can result in severe penalties that can ruin your business. Here are some examples of laws that might apply in your case:
- The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)
- The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)
- The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)
Note that such laws also apply to other fields that handle sensitive information. As a result, you should do a bit of research on this topic. But the good news is that shredding documents helps you avoid legal liability. However, you must hire professionals for this task since the law usually requires you to hold proof of document destruction.
No. 6 It can hurt the environment
All those paper files generate a lot of waste. Therefore, if you don’t dispose of them properly, you’ll hurt the environment. One solution would be to shred those documents and then take the waste to a recycling facility.
However, you can handle this more easily by hiring a shredder company. On the one hand, this will give you some peace of mind because the files will be effectively destroyed. On the other hand, these professionals work with recycling facilities that create recycled paper products out of your waste. So, you’ll contribute to protecting the environment.
No. 7 You’ll need more space
Holding on to large volumes of paper files takes up a lot of space. Plus, depending on your field of activity, you might be legally bound to hold on to those documents for several years. That means that you’ll soon run out of space. While you can rent storage for some older files, you might need frequent access to recent ones. In this case, the only option is to relocate your business.
You can delay moving into a bigger space by properly disposing of documents the moment they become useless. Nevertheless, at some point, this becomes unavoidable. When the time comes, whether you’re relocating across town or planning a long-distance move to Ohio, you should look for movers. Professionals will carefully handle and transport all your important documents. Plus, finding a reliable team to get you settled will make the entire process easier and less stressful.
Conclusion
So, what can happen if you don’t dispose of important documents properly? The answer is a lot. Some of the biggest concerns include putting your employees and customers at risk. That is not only dangerous for them but for your business as well. After all, it can damage your company’s reputation and even ruin it. To prevent this from happening, we strongly advise you to shred all documents containing sensitive information once you no longer need them.
Document Destruction, Cincinnati, Dayton, Lexington KY Paper Shredding service is a company that understands the importance of organization in the workplace. Serving both residential properties and commercial businesses, Document Destruction is ready to partner with you to help you and your business achieve optimal organization.
Document Destruction Services and Paper Shredding Cincinnat and Dayton
