A growing number of SMEs and home workers in Wirral are putting in place confidential shredding procedures.
However, more than half of SMEs are “totally unaware” of the potential fines that can be imposed for breaches of the Data Protection Act.
A fifth of businesses also wrongly believe they have no documents which could damage their business even though every business possesses confidential information such as employee contracts and invoices.
Paul Curtis, a Director with B&M Waste Services and head of the Secure Shredding division, said: “There has been a significant increase in the number of SMEs and home-based workers who have put in place secure shredding procedures, but there are still far too many which do not appreciate the dangers they run by not shredding securely.
“Fines of up to £500,000 can be imposed by the Information Commissioner’s Office for breaches of the Data Protection Act. There is also the irreparable damage that can be caused to an SME’s reputation if it falls foul of the Act.”
The Data Protection Act requires all organisations to safeguard confidential information and appropriately destroy it when it is no longer needed.
B&M clients are able to choose between on-site or off-site shredding services which enable them to destroy legal, personal and financial documents. B&M Secure Shredding is a registered member of the British Security Industry Association (BSIA), the trade association representing the professional security industry in the UK.
B&M Secure Shredding is a division of B&M Waste Services which provides businesses with a full range of carbon neutral waste management services. The company has offices in Wirral, Manchester and Norwich and celebrates its 60th birthday this year.
B&M Secure Shredding will carry out an audit to assess a business or organisation’s requirements and offers a range of lockable secure document containers, including bins, consoles and bags, which are in line with a corporate office environment. All confidential materials are destroyed to British Standard BS: EN 15713 and 100 per cent recycled. Customers are provided with certificates of destruction.
B&M Secure Shredding operatives have enhanced CRB checks and each vehicle is double-manned to ensure added security.
