1. Office Shredders Produce Strips of Paper That Can Be Reassembled
Most office shredding machines shred paper using a cross-cut or ribbon cut method. So when these strips of paper are discarded or recycled, "dumpster divers" just sort through the trash and reassemble these paper strips. This gives them easy access to confidential information you thought was destroyed. In fact this form of information fraud is so common, now there's software available to help these thieves scan and reassemble this information.
2. Office Shredders Can Cost Twice As Much As A Shredding Service
Small businesses that operate an office shredder spend, on average, 15 minutes of staff time each and every day, shredding confidential documents. When you consider the average hourly wage, plus benefits and factor in depreciation and maintenance costs on the shredder, it costs over $95 per month to operate an office shredder. That's nearly twice as much as our regularly scheduled, on-site shredding pickup service.
3. Office Shredders Can Leave You Vulnerable In Audits And Lawsuits
Irregular shredding practices. That's the charge an auditor or lawyer can make when they discover your organization uses an office shredder. Why? Because in-house shredding programs don't adhere to a regular shredding schedule and they don't provide adequate documentation of what's been shredded, when it's been shredded or by whom. So when a question arises as to when and why a particular piece of information was shredded, organizations without documentation are susceptible to severe fines.
4. Office Shredders Are A Safety Hazard
In the last five years there have been more than 50 reports of injuries from office shredders, including lacerations and lost fingers. And while these cases are isolated, office shredders have sharp blades that can injure someone if they're not careful. Additionally, office shredders produce paper, plastic and metal dust fragments that, left unchecked, can get into the air ducts and create a fire hazard.
5. Office Shredders Make A Big Mess
Even though "shredder mess" is not a risk factor, it's still something that you'll have to deal with if you use an office shredder. Fragments of paper will fall onto the floor while dust builds up on the shredder, the shredder table and the floor.
