subject: Ways To Reduce Corporate Liability [print this page] Any company that is large enough to have a legal department or legal advisors is going to constantly have someone speaking in their ear about the merits of reducing any corporate liability that the company may experience. One of the best ways to do this is by retaining the services of a commercial shredder. Any company that maintains paper records or files of any type which might contain client, customer, or internal information, can make use of the services of a commercial shredding company.
A misconception has arisen about shredding services due to the sensationalism about large companies shredding paper making it into the news after certain scandals. It is very important to note that shredding is not meant to hide behind, or to conceal any wrong doing. What most people don't realize is that the government actually requires companies to shred many different types of documents. By doing so, they are actually protecting themselves from prosecution and corporate liability, not trying to get away with wrong doing.
The laws that compel shredding in many industries are designed to protect the private information of citizens. Everyone has the right to keep their private information private, but when you do business with a medical office or a law firm for example, they will have possession of much of that information. The law requires them to destroy that information at an appropriate time. That is the role that paper shredding plays in the reduction of corporate liability.
If a person's private information was ever to become exposed while in possession of another company, that company could be held liable. This is the important distinction to make. When speaking of the avoidance of liability, it is not about avoiding prosecution for intentional felonies which may have been committed, as some people perceive. Instead, it is about avoiding liability by fulfilling your legal duty to protect private information.
This also extends to employee information, not just clients and customers. A very common hiring practice in place now is to do a background check and or a credit check on potential employees. This information is their private data, and must be destroyed in order to stay in compliance with the applicable laws.
Every company that is involved in law or medicine is going to absolutely need the services of a shredding company. There are also people that are involved in many other areas of business will also require this in order to reduce that aforementioned liability.
