It’s time to get ready for the big Spring clear-out
Spring will soon be here, so there should be one question on your mind…which document should you shred in your big clear-out?
There is a cost to your business, though, so it’s important to identify the difference between your confidential waste and sensitive old documents and the rest of your paper waste. You need to shred anything which might be used by identity thieves or fraudsters. In fact, advice from the Information Commissioner’s Office on how to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation specifically says that “how you dispose of any paper and electronic waste” should be addressed.
When it comes to answering the question ‘which document should you shred?’, here are some useful categories:
- Old customer correspondence – This will often have their banking details, names, addresses, phone numbers, and company numbers on it.
- Old orders, invoices, and bills – Often containing banking details, payment arrangements, names, addresses, and limited company numbers.
- Your old staff records and employee applications – They will contain staff names, addresses, phone numbers, emails, and their bank account numbers. They could also contain sensitive medical information.
- Bank statements – Your statements don’t just contain your own details, there are details of client and supplier bank accounts.
- Copies of identification such as birth certificates or passports – These could be used by ID thieves to set up bank accounts, apply for credit cards, or apply for other jobs.
- Your old business plans – Containing details of finance arrangements, key staff, and plans for the future you wouldn’t want to fall into the hands of your competitors.
- Staff rotas – Providing details of regular shift patterns and on-call phone numbers.
- Old memos and printed-out emails – These often contain confidential details.
So, which document should you shred? It’s time to decide…
Separate your confidential and sensitive waste from the general paper recycling.
You can do this by using shredding bags or lockable consoles to give you the best level of security. For large amounts of shredding we have a roll-on roll-off shredding skip which is secure and enclosed.
Then, you need to work out the cost of shredding and budget for it. Some companies charge per minute while others charge a flat fee per bag.
Why should you choose On Time Shred for your Spring clear-out?
- We can destroy more than 10 tonnes of confidential waste every hour
- We give you a certificate of destruction so that you can prove your item was destroyed correctly, waste transfer notes and numbers, and an audit trail
- Our employees are vetted
- Our vehicles have GPS tracking and our premises have 24-hour CCTV coverage. Access to them is tested regularly
- We meet the shredding standards set by the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI)
- We can reduce items to a dust-sized particle
- None of our waste goes to landfill
