Les vulnérabilités des dossiers papier

Paper-based systems have a lot of disadvantages. These are environmental costs, the price of paper itself, and the high cost of file storage often required. One of the main vulnerabilities is the degree of fragility of paper files.

Paper files are damaged or misplaced in all kinds of circumstances, the most common of which are the following for municipal governments.

• Fires: They can be caused by a criminal hand, mechanical failure, human error and various other reasons. Damage from fire as well as water can quickly destroy large premises where records are stored, which becomes impossible to recover.
• Floods: what happens if a file warehouse is flooded as a result of extreme weather, pipeline break-ups or other accidents? The records of the municipal administration are sometimes decades old so that they can fall apart quickly under the action of water. If records are found to be recoverable, the process is long and costly. The process includes drying files by lyophilization to save them. Once the files are recovered, they become even more fragile if a new disaster occurs.
• Excessive use: In some municipalities, files are sometimes a hundred years old. These documents may have been manipulated by thousands of people. This is why we must take a lot of precautions and probably store them in separate rooms. These additional premises are sometimes expensive given the precautions to be taken to preserve these historical documents.
• Snowstorms: A snow storm can cause about the same problems as a flood. It is also possible that paper files can not be consulted because access to the warehouses is blocked by snow. It then becomes difficult to process requests for access to information.
• Dust: Dust becomes a serious problem when handling paper files. As it can be deposited everywhere in the rooms, the reading of the files becomes arduous and unpleasant. Nobody likes to enter a dusty room.
• Mold: Mold can contaminate the records. It is not hygienic then to consult them. They are both a nuisance and a source of fear for workers. The files can then be very expensive to clean: we must call on experts to inspect the place and decontaminate everything there. Molds, which are biologically hazardous, can prevent access to damaged files until the problem is resolved, causing delays. Ricoh’s solutions help prevent damage in these and other types of situations. We have collaborated with hundreds of municipal governments across Canada by digitizing records and storing them in secure warehouses or in the cloud. We offer a range of customizable services and we can implement an automated administrative process tailored to your requirements. With our solutions, not only is the administration immune to the problems caused by paper records management systems, but it is also gaining efficiency, effectiveness and overall compliance.

Protect the records of your constituents.