Human error is a normal business risk that will happen no matter what. While it is not deliberate misconduct, it can come with serious consequences, especially in the realm of data protection. Fortunately, much of this risk can be mitigated through proper procedures and scheduled shredding services. To understand why scheduled shredding matters, businesses first need to recognize how human error enters the document lifecycle.
Human Error in Data Protection
Obviously, most employees do not intend to expose confidential information. Most paper-related mistakes are because employees are rushed, disposal rules are unclear, secure bins are unavailable, or there is a mass of document accumulation that gets handled incorrectly. In action, this could look like:
- Placing confidential records in regular trash or recycling
- Leaving papers on desks or shared printers
- Keeping records past their approved retention period
- Mislabeling boxes or folders
- Sending records to the wrong person
- Failing to follow destruction procedures
What makes paper records so vulnerable is that they often fall outside of digital monitoring systems. When a paper gets left on a printer or put in the wrong bin, there is no triggered warning flag sent to the IT department to investigate; it only becomes a known problem when something goes wrong.
To put this in perspective, IBM’s 2025 Cost of a Data Breach Report found that insider error breaches took an average of 162 days to identify, 51 days to contain, and cost an average of $3.62 million.
When the consequences can be this high, businesses should not depend on every employee making the correct split-second disposal decision every time.
Imagine What Could Have Happened: The Filefax Case
To demonstrate how one disposal failure can affect thousands of people, let’s look at the Filefax Inc. case. On February 10th, 2015, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) received an anonymous complaint sharing that someone transported medical records obtained from Filefax to a shredding and recycling facility to sell. OCR opened an investigation that confirmed that an individual had left medical records of approximately 2,150 patients at the shredding and recycling facility and that these records contained patients’ protected health information.
The press release explained that Filefax’s failure was not limited to sending records to the wrong disposal stream. Rather, the company exposed the protected health information in two ways: some records were left unsecured in an unlocked truck parked at the Filefax facility, while other records were released to an unauthorized individual who was allowed to remove them. Essentially, this means that Filefax failed to maintain physical control over the records during the destruction process.
The result could have been disastrous. Had a malicious agent intercepted this unprotected information, it could have resulted in thousands of people being targeted for:
- Identity theft
- Insurance fraud
- Medical identity theft
- Targeted scams
- Sale of personal information
Fortunately, the failure was caught in time, and the court-appointed receiver ultimately paid $100,000 to settle potential HIPAA violations, even though Filefax had gone out of business during the investigation.
All in all, this reinforces how secure destruction procedures must work consistently, even during busy periods, staffing changes, business transitions, or company closure. How? Scheduled shredding is the way to go.
What Is Scheduled Shredding?
Scheduled shredding is a recurring document-destruction service performed on a predetermined schedule, such as weekly, biweekly, monthly, etc.
It works by placing locked shredding bins throughout the workplace. Employees deposit confidential paper directly into the containers, and at the scheduled time, trained destruction personnel collect and securely shred the documents.
How Scheduled Shredding Reduces Human Error
Scheduled shredding reduces human error through a multi-layered strategy.
#1: It Removes the Guesswork
If a company employs a “shred-all” policy for paper, with clear instructions on what to place in the bin, employees do not have to decide whether a document belongs in the trash, recycling, or the shredder. It all goes in, and there is no chance of anything being missed.
#2: It Prevents Buildup
Rather than having to hold on to paper accumulation until a big purge, regular pick-ups stop confidential paper from getting tossed into boxes, file rooms, desk drawers, and storage closets. Less buildup means fewer rushed cleanouts and fewer opportunities for documents to be misplaced.
#3: It Makes Disposal Convenient
Locked containers placed near printers, workstations, accounting departments, HR offices, and reception areas make it easy to dump paper as employees go about their day. Employees are more likely to comply when secure disposal is readily accessible.
#4: It Limits the Chain of Custody
Once done with the paper, it goes straight into the secure container and isn’t touched again until professionals shred it. This minimizes the number of people who handle the confidential information and reduces the chance of human error.
Overall, connecting operational convenience with security and compliance makes the workplace a more streamlined location with less human error.
Schedule Regular Shredding with CI Information Management
Are you ready to make secure document disposal part of your regular workflow? We will work with you to develop a schedule that works for your business. As a secure shredding service for businesses, governments, and healthcare organizations across Central Washington and Northeastern Oregon, you can rest assured that our trained team always arrives on the agreed schedule to securely collect and destroy the contents.
Learn more about CI Information Management’s scheduled shredding services and request a quote for a service plan built around your business.
