Russell Richardson & Sons Ltd. - Blog

Free Whitepaper: Waste vs. Security

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:32:44 GMT

The aim of this whitepaper is to offer readers with an explanation of why shredding has been placed into the wrong sector and provide a straightforward methodology for transferring shredding into the security department. Designed to be practical and informative, it also seeks to give guidance with regards to the necessary security accreditations that a shredding supplier should possess.

Download the whitepaper now.

Boom time for fraudsters

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:35:50 GMT

Have a look at the following links. They are very interesting, particularly the first one about fraud.

http://www.info4security.com/story.asp?sectioncode=10&storycode=4128649&c=1&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

The second one is on data protection:

http://www.info4security.com/story.asp?sectioncode=9&storycode=4128642&c=1

Posted by: Jonathan Richardson

New Year - Shred Your Resolutions

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 08:11:00 GMT

New Year – Shred Your Resolutions

New year lots of new year resolutions, why not make getting to grips with the security and disposal of your documents one of yours this year.

Although most offices send, receive process and store documents electronically, you would be surprised just how many of these documents are printed off and hard copies used especially in meetings. I know that it is common practice for these documents to be simply placed in the normal waste bin once they are no longer required, sometimes regardless of the information that they contain.

What I am proposing is that companies use the new year to review this process, ask a few questions about what happens to the information and documents within your organisation, for example:

- What procedures are in place for secure document management?

- Who decides which documents are confidential and which are not?

- Is there a different process for disposing of confidential and non-confidential documents?

If you cannot confidently answer any one of these questions, then its time to review your internal processes not just because your company’s security could be breached or even that you are leaving your business vulnerable to identity theft but also because, dependent on the nature of the information contained within the documents, you could be in breach of the Data Protection Act.

Appointing a secure shredding supplier doesn’t need to cost the earth and they can give you peace of mind that your confidential documents are handled in a 100% secure and compliant manner right up until they are shredded. Get in touch today and we can even help you put in place robust, internal procedures for secure document management.

Posted by: Jonathan Richardson

Further Findings From NAID Study

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 13:19:00 GMT

Further Findings From NAID Study

Last week I told you about the headline findings of NAID’s recent study which uncovered that over 40% of London’s commercial rubbish bins contained highly confidential personal details. We have more details on exactly what type of information was found during the investigations and it makes for uncomfortable reading:

Overall, 44% of the institutions, each with a legal burden to protect personal information, were found to be casually discarding personal information. The findings revealed:

- A leading private hospital was found to have discarded the medical records of 70 vulnerable patients – including their names, addresses and details of their treatment

- Outside a top London law office, a 20-page document, detailing the case of a young woman with mental health problems and currently in foster care, was found on the pavement in a rubbish bag. All four of the law firms whose commercial garbage was subject to investigation were found to have personal client details in their rubbish

- Outside a national drug store chain, the rubbish was found to contain over 20 prescription labels including details such as patients’ names, addresses, and details of the medication prescribed. Some also included doctors’ names, dates of birth of patients and information on future requirements for medication

Why do I think there is such a disregard for clients’ personal data? I honestly think it boils down to priorities. Unfortunately employers do not stress the importance of data protection to frontline staff enough. In the workplace the emphasis is placed on productivity rather than security and there isn’t time to stand by an office shredder destroying documents.

I say it time and time again, for a relatively small cost a professional and accredited shredding supplier can arrange all the necessary storage measures to keep material secure prior to shredding and ensure prompt and complete destruction of any confidential materials.

Posted by: Jonathan Richardson

Over 40% Of London’s Rubbish Bins Contain Personal Information

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:17:00 GMT

Over 40% Of London’s Rubbish Bins Contain Personal Information

As a founding member of NAID (National Association of Information Destruction) Europe, we are always keen to promote the secure disposal of discarded information while emphasising standards and ethics in the industry. So it was with a heavy heart I read the results of NAID’s most recent study that found over 40% of London’s commercial rubbish bins contained highly confidential personal details.

It would appear that the casual disposal of extremely sensitive personal is common practice for a significant portion of London-based organisations. Compare this to when Members of Parliament throw out personal information; they make headlines!

The month-long study, involved private investigators examining the contents of the city’s publicly accessible commercial rubbish bins in an effort to determine the amount of personal information present there. Included among the targets were a number of London-area hospitals, law offices, bank headquarters and branch offices, as well as government agencies.

The aim of the study was to determine whether or not the recently escalated data protection fines, now £500,000, and the ongoing publicity about the dangers of identity theft were being taken seriously. According to NAID Board member Lloyd Williams, “The instructions to the investigators were quite explicit. They were not to go to extraordinary lengths or breach any laws when examining the trash. We hired them to simply look in the bin to see what any passerby might find.”

Overall, 44% of the institutions, each with a legal burden to protect personal information, were found to be casually discarding personal information. You might be thinking what does this have to do with me all the way up in Yorkshire? Well, while I expect that London has a much more densely populated business community than, say Sheffield but you would expect that larger organisations, such as solicitors firms, bank headquarters and hospitals (those that handle personal information everyday) to have procedures in place to ensure the secure disposal of information. Thus avoiding throwing confidential information into the normal rubbish bins.

Therefore, what hope is there for smaller organisations that perhaps don’t deal with the volume of personal information and wrongly believe they do not need to shred documents? Make sure you are in the 60% of businesses that are securely disposing of sensitive information not least to protect your corporate identity but to also comply with the Data Protection Act.

Posted by Jonathan Richardson

Employee of the Month

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:10:00 GMT

The Employee of the Month for November is.................. Dick Barker

Although Dick has only been with the company for a short period of time he has made a fantastic impression upon all of us with his fantastic work ethic, creative mind and indefatigable sense of humour. He has never ceased to amaze me with his willingness to take on extra duties and keep on working until the job is done. Well done Dick!

SAFEcontractor Accreditation

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 08:54:00 GMT

In addition to our list of security and shredding accreditations I am pleased to announce that Russell Richardson has recently joined a leading health and safety scheme, designed to help industry improve its safety record. SAFEcontractor is a programme which recognises very high standards of health and safety practise amongst UK contractors.

Our application for SAFEcontractor accreditation was driven by the need for a uniform standard of health and safety across the business. Working in the secure shredding industry for over 33 years, it has always been our aim to achieve the highest levels of accreditations in particular with regards to our policies and procedures. Therefore, it seemed a natural progression to ensure that all our clients and employees were reassured that we can meet both the highest levels of health and safety as well as security.

Applicable to most sectors, SAFEcontractor is particularly relevant to property, facilities management, food manufacture, retail and leisure sectors, all of which are big users of contract services. John Kinge, Head of Risk at SAFEcontractor said: "Major organisations can no longer run the risk of employing contractors who are not able to prove that they have sound health and safety policies.

"More companies need to understand the importance of adopting good risk management in the way that Russell Richardson has done. The firm’s high standard has set an example, which hopefully will be followed by other companies within the sector.”

Under the SAFEcontractor system, businesses undergo a vetting process, which examines health and safety procedures and their track record for safe practice. Those companies meeting the high standard are included on a database, which is accessible to registered users only via a website, www.safecontractor.com. Employer-organisations who sign up to the scheme can access the database, enabling them to vet potential contractors before they even set foot on site. These employers agree that, as users of the scheme, they will engage only those who have received accreditation.

Over one hundred and fifty major nation-wide businesses, from several key sectors, have signed up to use the scheme when selecting contractors for services such as building, cleaning, maintenance, refurbishment or electrical and mechanical work.

Posted by: Jonathan Richardson

Keeping Your Brand Secure

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 08:41:00 GMT

Recycling & Waste World magazine asked me to contribute an article on keeping a brand secure and here’s a sneak peak for our regular blog followers...

“Regardless of whether a business is a fledgling enterprise or an established company with years of history, a lot of hard work and money will have gone into developing the brand and company identity. As a result business owners are normally extremely proud of their corporate identity and the company’s reputation that will have been built over a number of years. Therefore, it is necessary to take as many precautions as possible in order to protect not only the company image but its branding too. However, many businesses will dispose of company information like packaging and branded materials alongside general waste. Jonathan Richardson, managing director of secure shredding company, Russell Richardson, explains the risks associated with corporate identity theft and how added levels of security can be introduced to a company’s disposal process with limited impact on budgets.”

For those of you that are keen to read more, you can find it in this week’s magazine: http://content.yudu.com/A1uoks/RecyclingWorldNov17t/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl=

Posted by: Jonathan Richardson

How Long Is Too Long?

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:57:45 GMT

There is an interesting piece of legislation within the Data Protection Act (DPA) that relates to how long personal data can be retained by an organisation before it is destroyed that can cause businesses a few issues. Let me explain why ...

One of the eight principals of the DPA relates specifically to the disposal of information held by an organisation. In particular, it states that personal data shall not be kept for any longer than is necessary. Unfortunately, there is no further clarification given as to how long a ‘necessary’ period of time is. Without any specific document management guidelines in place at an organisation, it is therefore left to the business owner or individual members of staff to make the judgement.

Of course there are certain documents, such as company accounts that need to be kept by law and stored for at least six years, but what about old customer databases or records? To ensure that you never fall foul of this piece of legislation, it would be my advice for an office manager (or someone in a similar position) to create a disposal schedule that is centrally available to all staff, so everyone is clear of the company policy on information disposal. And most importantly contract the services of a secure shredding company to undertake the removal and final destruction of any confidential material, including staff uniforms, identity badges and hard drives. It is the only way to achieve 100% peace of mind that you are complying with the DPA.

Posted by: Jonathan Richardson

We Now Shred Hard Drives Too

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 13:31:44 GMT

It was with concern that I read an article on Companies House website that said there were up to 100 cases of corporate identity theft every month. With this in mind we are prepared to do everything necessary to ensure that none of our customer to fall victim to this type of crime, so we’ve added hard drive shredding to our repertoire.

The aim is that it will make it easier for you to securely dispose of computer hardware at the same time as any other sensitive waste streams. It never fails to shock me how UK businesses do not seem to be taking heed even though cases of corporate espionage are increasing and it is still commonplace for old computer hard drives to simply be discarded or auctioned for re-use – many with company data still intact. By being careless with old computer equipment companies are not only potentially in breach of the Data Protection Act (DPA) but it also makes them extremely vulnerable to criminal activity, where the repercussions can stretch further than a monetary fine.

Despite the numbers of companies falling victim to corporate identity theft rising each year and instances of financial details left on hard drives being utilised for criminal activity, best practice for computer equipment disposal continues to be ignored. We’ve been handling the disposal of confidential information for over 33 years and I want to make it as straightforward and cost effective as possible for you to dispose of computer hard drives in a highly secure manner.

Our high throughput mobile trucks can shred up to 400 hard drives per hour, so we aim to cause minimum disruption at your premises and in compliance with our environmental targets all metals are sent for recycling in the UK.

Don’t take my word for it though, here’s one of our satisfied customers:

Helen Hall, technical service co-ordinator, UFI, comments: “Russell Richardson has provided us with a secure shredding service for a number of years now and more recently we have utilised the hard drive destruction service. It is incredibly convenient for us as we have complete peace of mind that not only are they an accredited and secure supplier, but the destruction takes place at our premises.”

Posted by: Jonathan Richardson