Many businesses have regularly scheduled services for the secure collection and disposal of paperwork and documents, yet still that employees are carelessly discarding sensitive documents in standard desk bins. What’s the answer?
Education is key
When you introduced a secure bin did you let staff know about the bins? Often, the bins just appear in an office with no explanation about why the secure bin is there and how it should be used. As a minimum, you should take steps to inform all staff:
- Where the secure bins are located
- Why the bins are important (i.e. the security risks for the business, customers and individual employees if sensitive data is not correctly disposed of and destroyed)
- Examples of the types of documents that should ALWAYS be securely destroyed
- Emphasise that if there is any doubt, it is better to be too safe than not safe enough
This communication can either be at a physical meeting or through written communication, but if it is at a meeting, steps should be taken to develop a formal written policy. This can form a part of orientation and induction processes for new employees and serve as a reference that existing employees can continue to refer back to.
Reinforcement is important
Once the bins are in place and regularly being used, it’s important that the commitment to secure document destruction is upheld. Consider having signage around the office as a constant visual reminder. Include information about document security in regular company updates like internal newsletters. Depending on the size of your organisation, you could consider a competition for the department that is most vigilant about upholding document security, or encourage managers to regularly remind staff about following safe document destruction processes.
Document destruction made easy
At Eshred, we make document destruction easy. We can provide your business with a regularly scheduled or one-off bin delivery and collection. Depending on the needs of your business, we can collect daily, weekly, fortnightly or monthly, or just provide you with a one-off delivery of two bins that we’ll collect two weeks later. To find out more about our services or to book a bin, just contact us via our website and we’ll be in touch to finalise your requirements