To shred or not to shred? That’s the question when protecting confidential information.
Towering stacks of paper might tempt you to just get rid of them by throwing them in the bin, but if they land in the wrong hands, you might have to face some severe consequences.
Documents with personal information like signatures, account numbers, medical details, and legal or credit information are super private and need protection by law.
Destroy this information properly before discarding it; otherwise, it could be misused and lead to the theft of confidential data.
When you don’t need these papers anymore, shred them.
So, basically, every business that deals with that kind of information needs secure shredding services.
Read on to learn the top 10 reasons why getting a professional shredding service is a must for your business, along with insights into the best company offering these services.
Protection Against Identity Theft
Every business has a lot of documents with personal information about employees and customers. Identity theft is a big concern these days, especially if a thief gets their hands on sensitive documents left lying around in your office.
This can cause major chaos and significant losses. A Document shredding service stops these disasters in their tracks. It tidies up your workspace and ensures any confidential information is safely destroyed, avoiding potential problems altogether.
Legal Compliance
Destroying documents containing Personal Identifiable Information (PII) or Personal Health Information (PHI) securely isn’t just good practice—it’s the law in Ireland.
There are laws at both national and EU levels aimed at protecting people’s personal data (EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018, for example).
The Data Protection Commission (DPC) takes action against businesses that don’t adequately secure personal information.
Plus, there are federal laws for specific industries. For instance, the healthcare sector follows guidelines in the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) regulations, while financial institutions adhere to standards under the Central Bank of Ireland.
Using a secure shredding service has a significant advantage: everything from the equipment to staff training is set up to meet these legal requirements.
Enhanced Security
Crimes involving identity theft and information fraud are on the rise worldwide. Most of the time, these crimes happen because sensitive personal data is mishandled.
It’s often innocent mistakes causing the trouble, like leaving piles of papers near the shredder, misplacing documents, or not shredding them properly.
It’s not your employees’ fault; everyone makes mistakes.
Making your employees handle document destruction puts too much pressure on them and risks your business and data security.
Commercial shredding services can simplify your document destruction process and relieve your employees of responsibility.
This reduces human errors that can compromise security and keep your data confidential.
Enhanced Convenience
Using a commercial shredding service is incredibly convenient. It reduces the effort involved in managing and retaining documents, which can be a huge relief when meeting compliance standards and reducing employees’ workloads.
There’s no need for equipment, training, or extra effort.
Depending on your needs and document volume, Pulp returns regularly to destroy your documents on-site at your chosen interval. This prevents unnecessary transportation of your sensitive data and allows you to oversee the destruction process if you prefer.
With slam lock door systems installed on all our vehicles and continuous GPS tracking, coupled with our nearly two decades of experience and spotless track record, you can trust that your secrets are in safe hands with us.
Lower Expenses
While it might seem cheaper to buy your own shredding equipment and manage document destruction in-house, that’s often not the reality.
Besides the potential costs of dealing with a data breach fallout, expenses for manual labor, equipment upkeep, employee training, and ensuring protocol compliance can pile up fast.
Outsourcing your document destruction to a professional paper shredding service like Pulp means you only pay for what you shred—nothing extra.
No need to buy equipment, train staff, or deal with extra headaches.
High Efficiency
Unlike the consumer-grade shredders typically found in offices, industrial shredding equipment can quickly handle large volumes of documents.
With this equipment, bins full of documents can be securely destroyed in minutes, saving time compared to shredding them individually or in small batches throughout the day.
This eliminates the slow and laborious process often associated with shredding protocols used by offices managing document destruction in-house.
Your Business’s Image
Your business’s image is worth a lot. Most people think that if a company has their data, they’ll keep it secure.
But that isn’t always true. A data breach can be a real blow to your reputation, smashing customer trust for years.
Why take chances with dodgy shredding? Hire a professional paper shredding service like Pulp to do it right and keep your customer data super safe.
Eco-friendly
Throwing papers and files in the bin isn’t just a security risk; it’s also bad for the environment. Even if you get rid of them after shredding, it’s still not a sustainable practice.
Most of that trash ends up in compost mines or dumps, where it’s burned, releasing tons of greenhouse gases and contributing to global warming.
On the flip side, the right shredding service will dispose of your documents safely and take them to recycling agencies to recycle the paper instead of burning it.
Workflow
Getting into the habit of regular paper shredding in your workflow sets up simple rules that help your team protect sensitive business info easily.
Putting secure document drop boxes around your office encourages great data security practices, making it super easy for employees to destroy confidential documents.
This makes it easier for you to set up and enforce a shredding policy that everyone can agree to.
Optimise Office Space
Onsite shredding is a great way to keep your office’s sensitive information safe and free up space for more important things. For extra security, throw those files you don’t need anymore into a locked shred box.
You’ll create space in your filing cabinets for new equipment and avoid dodgy off-site storage that might not be as safe as you’d like.
Wrapping It Up
No matter how much paper shredding your business has, the answer is simple: Get a pro paper shredding team like Pulp to sort out your shredding problem.
Keep your data safe by making regular shredding visits part of your document management routine, or book a one-off bulk shredding service to clear out unneeded documents from storage.
