An important aspect of operating any business is keeping documentation safe and secure. In particular, any paperwork that holds sensitive or confidential data, including personal details of clients, customers or employees, needs to be kept safe in accordance with the Data Protection Act.
Here are five ways to make sure your workplace documents are kept safe.
1. Digitalise Important Documents
The importance of security in the workplace cannot be underestimated, in particular with how you manage confidential and personal data. With this in mind, you should avoid storing documents classed as confidential, as they might end up getting lost or stolen.If you have any secure and confidential documents, then consider digitalising them. Use robust and safe software systems that can be password protected and have protection in place to prevent virus, malware, or theft attacks.
2. File Management
Having a clear, organised, and logical file management system in place will help to improve the security of your documents, as items won't be easily lost or misplaced. Moreover, it will create a more efficient workplace as you'll be better able to find the documents you need at any given time.You should also be mindful of how long you keep hold of documents in your filing system, as there's no point hanging onto paperwork that's no longer required, as this poses a security risk in itself.
3. Safe Storage
As well as having a well-organised filing system for your documents, paperwork should be kept safe and secure so that unauthorised access isn't made possible. Store documents in a robust filing cabinet, for instance, with a secure lock. Limit the number of people who may have access to your documentation.
4. Get Document Disposal Savvy
In order to avoid clutter and to reduce the security risk of paperwork getting into the wrong hands, many companies have policies in place with regards to how long documents should be kept before they're disposed of. Get to know what this policy is for your workplace, and how long you need to keep different types of documents for.
5. Get Shredding
Once you're aware of which documents should be kept and for how long, you should make sure you dispose of unwanted paperwork safely and securely by shredding them.Confidential or sensitive data that is no longer needed or has been digitalised should be shredded straightaway, as the longer it is left lying around, the higher the chance of it getting lost or stolen.
If you don't have the time to devote to daily shredding, or you worry that a personal shredder might not offer the high level of safe disposal you require, then consider using secure document shredding companies to handle all of your paperwork shredding requirements. Contact our professional shredding services today to ensure your workplace documents are safe and secure.
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