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Small businesses that rely less on paper and ensure they back up their work on a regular basis are better placed to deal with workplace disasters than those that don't, a risk assessment expert has claimed.

IT and software consultancy businesses are best equipped to deal with unexpected incidents that could affect their business, according to Nick O'Reilly, vice-president of business insolvency association R3.

Offering small business advice, Mr O'Reilly highlights the importance of companies being able to work flexibly away from the office in the event of a crisis at work, as well as the benefits of having as few paper-based files as possible.

'The trouble with a lot of firms, including lawyers and accountancy firms, is that although they all aspire to be electronic, there is still a lot of paper flow in most offices,' he says.

'As long as you're backing things up, maintaining a paperless office is absolutely a good thing. But you must back things up on a regular basis and keep things off site,' he adds.

Figures published by Disaster Recovery Solutions revealed that 43 per cent of UK businesses that suffered from a disaster in the workplace never recover completely, with 90 per cent of those that lose data in a crisis being forced to close within two years.

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