One factor that you should always consider when choosing a document storage company or facility is the security that they offer. Storing documents safely is a legal requirement for all businesses and the industry in which your business operates as well as the type of documents you create and store will determine how long you need to keep paper documents. Using off-site storage means that you can enjoy greater protection from certain risks as well as improved security.
Company records must be kept for a minimum of six years and many organisations choose to extend this period so that they have access to files if they are required at a later date. Health and safety records for some equipment may need to be kept for a minimum 10 year period while health records relating to compressed air, asbestos, and other hazardous materials may need to be retained for as long as 40 years in some instances.
Every business has different requirements and, when it comes to keeping records, there are a number of reasons to store certain documents. Your organisation may be legally required to store certain documents for a specific or minimum period of time. Records should be retained for auditing purposes, too, and you may wish to keep client data as a matter of your data management programme.
You can, of course, keep a copy of these documents on-site. However, with a minimum of 6 years of documents this will take up room and storing them on-site is not usually considered the most secure or the most reliable means of protecting the data that is essential to your business and its success. Storage facilities are experienced in providing a secure environment and they have the setup and the skills to ensure that everything is retained exactly as required.
You will be able to gain quick and easy access to the data and documents that you store whenever you need to. Usually this will be done by providing a box number or other location identifier to the storage facility who will then have the documents securely delivered to your business address ready for use as you see fit.