4 Considerations for Startup Organisations During Document Destruction

Posted on

For many organisations, confidentiality and privacy of documents are of utmost importance. When it comes to document destruction, however, some companies make the mistake of not abiding by regulations, which exposes the organisations to potential risks. For example, poor destruction and disposal of documents can lead to third party infiltration. Also, a poor document disposal system can cause accidental destruction of critical documents. Here are some considerations for startup organisations when dealing with document destruction. 

Chain of Custody  

During document destruction, you need to establish a chain of custody for each file as a matter of security. Chain of custody refers to the process of collecting, handling, tracking, protecting and destruction of documents. The security of the whole process should be enhanced by employing technologies such as GPS trackers and barcoding.

Certificate of Destruction 

When you outsource document destruction services to a third-party company, you need the peace of mind that the documents will be destroyed properly. Therefore, proof of destruction is key to this process. It is best practice for a document destruction company to issue a certificate of destruction. By issuing the certificate, the organisation acknowledges that the destruction of records was irreversible, and thus, there is no reasonable chance of recovering or reconstituting the information.

Professional Document Destruction Saves Time

One major challenge with in-house document destruction is the time taken to sort through a tonne of documents trying to determine which files are due for destruction. Furthermore, the process of sorting and shredding documents manually is daunting and time-consuming. When you hire a document destruction company, they will conduct a full audit of your organisation and save you time and money that would otherwise have been used to undertake the exercise. Moreover, opt for a firm that will collect and ship the documents to an offsite location, which saves your organisation huge transportation costs.

Environmentally Friendly Destruction 

The process of document destruction should not cause harm to the environment. For instance, setting documents on fire, as a form of document destruction, is likely to cause the risk of air pollution and uncontrolled fires that can damage property and the environment. Therefore, as more organisations strive towards showing their recycling and green credentials, it is necessary to shred documents in an eco-friendly way. Shredding documents is one way to go about it because the waste can be picked up by a recycling company. Besides, by outsourcing the document destruction service, you can remain green and clean while minimising the storage costs.


Share