It can be a difficult task to stay compliant with all privacy laws and regulations when you are running a company. Your day-to-day management occupies most of your time, and depending on your employees to dispose of secure documents seems like a reasonable expectation. Even with the best training and study of compliance laws, though, you and your employees could be making some mistakes that could land you some pretty hefty fines. Contracting with a professional company like Shred With Us can help ensure you aren’t making these common mistakes.
- Sloppy Storage Procedure. If you haven’t already put a solid procedure for storing secure documents in place, then you need to ASAP. Without a place that documents immediately go, you run the risk of employees absentmindedly throwing these papers in the trash. Regular disposal of these secure documents can put those you serve at risk and lead to fines for you. Set up a storage procedure such as locked storage containers specifically for secure documents that need shredded.
- Storage and Destruction Timetables. Federal regulations require storage times for a variety of documentation such as medical and educational records. Throwing out records before their time could cause some serious problems for those whose information you are storing. Throwing them out too late can open the records up to data breaches and theft.
- Shredding Yourself. It may seem like a time and money saver to purchase your own paper shredder and keep it in the office. For a short-term solution, it may save a little bit of money but in the long run this could cause an infinite number of problems. Employees may not take the time to shred everything, the shredded paper once thrown out could be stolen and pieced back together. If your secure data is compromised, it could lead to many expensive fines and even lawsuits.
Don’t spend time worrying about the potential for fines. Instead, work with Shred With Us, and we’ll take care of all of your storage and destruction needs.
