The importance of records management

All organisations have a number of legal obligations to have record management systems in place for a variety of reasons. The lack of an efficient record management system means that business cannot be carried out to the fullest capability, it’s not possible to evidence events or incidents from the past and there’s nothing which can be used to help plan for the future. Records management, London and UK wide is a vital component for any corporate company.

Record management means

–          Accountability

–          Transparency

–          Provision of evidence

–          Compliance with legal obligations

–          Compliance with regulatory rules

–          Being able to protect and provide confidentiality of information under the Data Protection Act

–          The protection of staff

–          Assistance in any decision making

The benefits of records management

Records management is vital for a number of reasons includes time, space and money saving, efficiency for retrieval, quality of documentation in years to come and security of data and sensitive information.

Without records management, paperwork would be accessible by anyone at any time, it would be easy for important items to become lost, stolen or destroyed, events such as a fire could permanently wipe out crucial information or rare items and it would be hard  – or even impossible – to find records when required if they are not stored correctly.

Record retention

It’s sometimes very hard to know when a record can be disposed of. There are number of laws in place with regards to the number of months certain records need to be kept for such as medical records or police crime reports.

Throwing information away could have disastrous effects so always think about whether you need to store anything which comes your way which could have an effect on the business or organisation you work for. If you’re in doubt, talk to someone such as your Records Manager or a Quality Manager who will know how long to keep something for.

The main laws in place with regards to document and record storage are the Data Protection Act 1988 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

An example as to the importance of records management London-based companies and government bodies should take particular note of is section 77 of the Freedom of Information Act where it states ‘it is a criminal offence to destroy information in order to prevent disclosure’.

Records management specialists The Archive Warehouse are very aware of the rules and can advise on the best way to store important documents. It’s better to take guidance from an expert now rather than face problems in the future after it is discovered data has been destroyed  – even if unintentional.