Document Destruction Guidelines for Businesses
To ensure that company, customer and employee information is protected, businesses need to shred or destroy certain documents at specific times. Legislation is strict, and compliance with the Data Protection Act is key to avoid failing foul of the law. Organisation found to be in breach of this act can face a financial penalty of up to half a million pounds.
Of course, running a business comes with daily expenses and no company wants to increase its overheads without doing some research. So, considering you can’t hold onto all your files forever, you might be wondering “How much does it cost to shred documents?”
Inhouse shredding services
You might think that an inhouse shredding solution is the most cost-effective way to go. While that might be true in terms of the upfront cost (buying the paper shredder for your office) it can soon become a drain on your resources. Not to mention that trying to stay on top of all the regulatory fine-print to keep your document storage and document destruction processes compliant, is a major administrative headache.
A paper shredder, like all equipment, suffers from wear and tear and will require maintenance. Depending on the amount of use it gets, this could range from a bit of oiling now and then, to a full service and parts replacement at least annually. The upfront price of the shredder is not much when compared to these requirements over time.
What’s more, you’ll need staff to do the actual shredding. Either this time has to come out of their standard working day – taking them away from other business tasks – or you need to pay them overtime. Bear in mind, that whoever is assigned to shredding needs to have proper training on document security, retention and destruction. Again, this is another possible expense.
Outsourced shredding services
Outsourced shredding services can take place on-site or off-site, depending on the organisation’s needs. In terms of price, document shredding costs are mainly based on:
- What needs shredding? Paper files, for example, need to be shredded differently from DVDs and CDs.
- What is the volume of items in need of shredding?
- Do you have some shredding facilities on-site – or are choosing to shred everything off-site?
- How easy are the files to retrieve for shredding? If you require a records retrieval service to collect your files, that will usually incur an additional cost.
How much does document shredding cost at Access Records Management?
At Access Records Management, we offer some of the most competitively priced shredding services available. All you have to do is call for a quote or complete our enquiry form to get a precise price. And if you have specific shredding requirements, we’ll put together a bespoke deal that ensures all your needs are met.
We don’t just destroy paper documents; our document shredding services also include the disposal of X-rays, magnetic tapes, CDs, and DVDs. The destruction of different types of media will vary in cost, but our shredding costs are very affordable.
Once we are satisfied that your records have been completely destroyed, we provide our customers with a Certificate of Destruction as a confirmation. This certificate is vital as proof of compliance with the necessary data protection regulations. It provides a documented audit trail protects your company from severe – and costly – penalties.
For more information on how to safely and compliantly shred your documents, give the Access Records Management team a shout today.
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