Is Your Information Safe in Your Office?

There are many weak points in your office that you may not realize and you have to address them right away.  Having an ongoing document shredding program will help eliminate these potential risks.

The Trash Can

Every desk has a waste basket so your employees can conveniently throw things away without having to get up from their desks.  You probably have trash containers in many other locations in your office like the lunch room, the file room, and the conference room.  All of these containers are potential risks for an information breach if you put any business documents in them.   No documents should ever be put in the regular trash.

The Recycling Container

Recycling is great for the environment and everyone wants to do their part, but putting business records in a recycling container is not secure.  Recyclers separate recyclables by type; for example plastic, glass and cardboard.  Security is the last thing on their mind.  Your company’s papers may never get shredded when they are sent to a recycler and your information will be available to anyone who wants to look.  Never put printed documents into a recycling container. They should always be shredded before disposal.

Desk Top

Files left on top of a desk are a potential leak of information.  The numbers of people that come through your office every day plus the crews that are in your office for cleaning and repairs are numerous.  Files left unattended on top of a workstation or a desk in a private office are an invitation for unscrupulous people to steal valuable information.   Have a company policy that before an employee leaves their work area at the end of the day or for an extended period of time, no papers should ever be left on top of their desk.

Your File Room

The file room in your office is the storage area for most of your business’ private information including the private information about your clients or patients.  If it is not secure, your information is not protected.  File rooms need to be locked and you need to control who has access to that important room.

File Cabinets

Your office may not be big enough for a file room but you probably have a number of file cabinets in your office to store files.  All your file cabinets should have locks on them to secure your records.  Keys should be given to a limited number of staff to control access to sensitive information.

The Copy Machine

Regardless of the size of your office you probably have a copy machine or if you’re a large company, you have many of them.  Now think of how often you make a copy that has an error on it or the copy has some other issue.  Unfortunately most people just put those copies in the trash; BIG MISTAKE!  Any copies being discarded need to be shredded to protect confidential information on them.

The Solution

Introducing an ongoing document shredding program is a great way to protect your information and be compliant with privacy laws.  The first thing you need to do is establish a SHRED ALL policy in your company.  That means that every document that is being thrown away must be shredded.  The best way to start a program is to contact a professional document destruction company.  They will provide you with locking containers to be distributed throughout your office so all documents will be disposed of and secured until they are shredded.  Your service provider will then come to your office and empty and destroy the contents of each container on a regular schedule.

Time Shred Services is a local onsite shredding service that provides document destruction to the businesses and residents located in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Staten Island, Queens, Nassau County, Suffolk County, Westchester, and New Jersey.

For more information give us a call or visit www.timeshred.com.