Why Your Staff Will Not Use the Office Shredder

When it comes to getting rid of paper, is the shredder always last? Do your workers dread using the shredder in the adjacent room?

Your staff may avoid using the office shredder for a variety of factors, many of which may be valid. Here are some instances of the challenges of using the shredder:

“Look at my work description, you know that’s not my job.” The paper may not be making it to the shredder because it may be the last item on your employees’ minds.
You understand how frustrating it is when you think the shredder will handle your shredding volume but it falls short. For the amount of paper in a workplace, shredders are a notorious hassle and almost never shred all of the paper generated in a given office. Nobody wants to deal with a slow or jam-prone shredder that can only handle two or three pages at once.
“We have a shredder in our main workplace, but I have to walk all the way over there every time I have a pile of paper waste. The recycling container is a lot closer.” That may sound indolent, but considering that the typical office worker uses about two pounds of paper products per day, they may be able to meet their recommended 10,000 steps just by going to the shredder.
“Irritated by the noise of the machine, evil eyes raise above the office partitions every time I use the shredder.” The shredder can overheat and halt if you push it too far, leaving your sheets stuck in the feeder. In an office setting, the sound of a shredder is noisy and interferes with phone calls or interactions with coworkers.

Because it seemed so much more affordable, your company may have decided to purchase a shredder for the workplace. In-house shredding actually costs more when you take the following into account:

Trash – There should be no paper put in the trash can. Unfortunately with a trash can on site, it will be the choice of each employee to determine which paper is private or includes personally identifiable information (PII). Every bit of paper carries the risk of causing a security lapse so everyone should make it a practice to shred all of their paper. This will lessen the possibility that private information will leak and guarantee that paper recycling happens after shredding.
Cost – Due to their noisy operation, slow speed, messy paper shreds falling all over the place, and persistent jams, shredding machines quickly frustrate employees. Shredder “teeth” must frequently be serviced or changed. The environment, the employees, and the budget all suffer from time and cost of an in-house shredder. Avoid wasting your professionally trained staff’s precious time by shredding.
Security – Documents that are thrown away or left in a pile unattended while waiting to be shredded run the risk of a security breach because workers avoid the shredder.

Issues Resolved

It is much more affordable, better for employee morale, compliant, and ecologically friendly to outsource your paper shredding. Find a shredding specialist who is NAID AAA certified, complies with all local, state, and federal information privacy laws, and provides safe collection containers when you’re on the lookout for one.

Request an estimate on our website or by calling 860-627-5800 to learn more. Our experts will ask you a few questions to better understand your requirements, after which they will tell you exactly what to expect from start to finish, including the cost.