How To: Protect Your Paper Documents

By Morgan O'Mara | December 28, 2015 | 6 minute read

It’s easy to overlook the importance of safeguarding your paper documents when you’ve already made them digital or simply have just forgotten about them. Yet, many of use still possess crucial paper records, such as birth certificates, passports, financial statements, irreplaceable family mementos, employee files, contracts, and more. These tangible pieces of our personal and professional lives deserve careful protection from threats like theft, fire, water damage, and general deterioration. Whether you’re organizing your office or managing important business files, knowing how to properly secure and preserve your paper documents is essential. In this guide, we’ll explore practical and effective methods on how to protect your paper documents to ensure they remain safe, accessible, and in pristine condition for years to come.

The Importance of Protecting Your Paper Documents

Protecting paper documents offers several important benefits for businesses and individuals alike. You will have peace of mind that your vital information will remain intact and accessible when needed. In addition, many industries have legal requirements for document retention and protection. Proper document security helps businesses stay compliant with these regulations and avoid potential fines or other legal issues.

Furthermore, implementing security protocols for paper documents helps protect sensitive business information from unauthorized access, reducing the risk of corporate espionage or data breaches. As for individuals, secure storage and proper disposal of their documents reduces the risk of personal information from falling into the wrong hands, preventing identity theft.

In case of disasters like fires or floods, protected documents are more likely to survive, ensuring business operations can continue with minimal disruption. Additionally, protecting important documents preserves their historical significance and sentimental value for generations. Proper storage conditions and protective materials slow down the deterioration process, maintaining the quality and legibility of important documents overtime.

Most important, knowing that important paper documents are securely protected provides peace of mind for both individuals and businesses. This allows you to focus on other priorities.

Effective Ways of Protecting Your Paper Documents

Businesses and individuals can protect their paper documents through several effective methods.

Create a Records Retention Plan

Organize documents by category and establish retention periods based on legal requirements or company policies. This helps manage document lifecycles and prevents unnecessary storage of outdated materials. Here is how to implement an effective records retention plan:

Know your federal and state regulations for how long to keep your records for.
Have an organized system for classifying your records. Classify by whatever makes sense for your business such as invoice number, patient name, or other category.
If you find any documents that are past their retention period, securely dispose of them. With the rest of your documents, create a regular schedule for disposing your documents based on their retention period. When you’re ready to purge your records, securely shred your paper documents or securely delete your digital files from your system.
Keep your records organized by deciding on a filing system that works best for you. This could be organizing your records by type and year, or hiring a document scanning company to scan and index your documents.
Update your retention schedule regularly and train your employees so they remain up-to-date with the procedures.

Establish Security Protocols

For valuable or fragile documents, use protective materials, such as acid-free, buffered boxes, folders, and sheet protectors to neutralize damaging acids and slow degradation. For documents that need extra protection, consider using synthetic waterproof paper or applying polyurethane coatings or acrylic sealers. Furthermore, restrict access to sensitive documents by implementing locked storage areas, monitoring who accesses files, and training staff to secure confidential materials properly. When creating digital versions of your paper documents, use password protection to restrict access and maintain confidentiality.

Digitize Your Documents

Create digital backups of paper documents to ensure they survive in case of physical damage or loss. Use a Document Management System (DMS) for easy access and additional security.

Consider Off-Site Storage

For documents that aren’t needed for day-to-day operations but must be retained, use secure off-site storage facilities to protect against theft, fire, or other on-site risks. Secure off-site facilities also come with 24/7 security, physical security, simplified retention tracking, and on-demand retrieval services.

Shred Your Documents Securely and Regularly

By regularly shredding confidential documents you are protecting your company from a data breach. There are several options available to a business when considering a shredding program. Find out more about these options below: