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The records that your company keeps are valuable resources, and they need to be treated as such. If you do not keep your records tightly controlled, it could come back to haunt you in the future. To help motivate you, here is a look at the reasons that record control is so vital for your business.
History Is Important
If you do not have your records tightly managed, it could cause you headaches when you need them in the future. There should be at least one person in your company whose role is to be the record keeper. This record keeper needs to use a tightly maintained system that allows records to be quickly retrieved when they are needed.
Records Need to Be Kept Safe
One of the main reasons that records need to be controlled tightly is that the information on many records can be abused if it falls into the wrong hands. The confidential information that is found on many business records means that you need to do everything possible to keep them from being stolen.
This starts by having all of you records kept in a safe place in your business. In the past, it was common for small businesses to keep filing cabinets full of records out in their waiting rooms or other public areas where they could easily be violated. If you are still doing this, you need to stop immediately. Always keep your company records in a spot where they will never be left alone with someone who does not work in your office.
Also, it is a good idea to make sure that the file cabinets that hold your records are kept locked when they are not in use. These file cabinets should also be fireproof to keep your records from being damaged if your business is unfortunate enough to suffer a fire.
Shredding Records
One of the most important parts of keeping records safe is to shred them when they are no longer needed. Do not ever make the mistake of simply throwing records away or recycling them without shredding them first. It can be tedious to shred large amounts of paper records. If you want to make the task easier, you can use a professional document shredding service like Vital Records Control.
Record control is a vital part of running your business. Make sure you take it seriously. Follow these tips to keep your records safe, and you and your customers will sleep easier. Just these few simple moves are all you need to keep your records maintained properly.
Dequiana, you make a great point about how you can’t just discard old records by throwing them away or putting them in the recycling bin without shredding them first. I would imagine that any type of company would be liable for any of their customer’s data and personal information. Using a professional shredding company would probably be the best safeguard when protecting data and records. I’m sure most business owners could be in trouble if there was ever any personal information improperly used or disseminated. Taking extra precautions could help prevent something like that from happening.