Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/845499
W EEKLY EDIT ION JULY 5, 2017 Saving the Show When Bad Actors Threaten the Portable Sanitation Industry … continued • Free market forces . In this category you find the process of doing business – with all of the incentives and disincentiv es of competing effectively in our free market economy. A growing business, customer loyalty, high satisfaction and a sterling reputation will usually reward positive actors. Bad actors will face fewer business opportunities, lost customers, bad reviews an d a poor reputation. In extreme cases, consumers or competitors who believe they have been harmed by the unlawful or negligent behavior of a business can sue for damages in civil court. • Industry self - regulation . Back in 1983 an article in the Academy of Ma nagement Review defined self - regulation as a "process whereby an industry - level organization (such as a trade association or a professional society), as opposed to a governmental - or firm - level, organization sets and enforces rules and standards relating t o the conduct of firms in the industry." Industries use self - regulation to decrease risks to consumers, increase public trust, and combat negative public perceptions. It complements existing laws by imposing supplemental rules to govern the behavior of fir ms. The PSAI's role falls into this last category – industry self - regulation. We can do a lot of things, but we cannot do what the other levels of accountability do . So when we get calls from the public or other Members asking us to "make them stop" whate ver a bad actor may be doing, what we can do is limited to the tools and tactics of self - regulation. In plain language, this means we have no means of requiring a change in behavior in the same way that government can by shutting down the company or levyin g huge fines. We also cannot force a bad actor out of business or take any action that would appear to be colluding with competitors to achieve that result. If the PSAI were to do that we'd be in violation of anti - trust laws – as would any group of compani es who tried to do the same thing without the PSA I. A case study from another industry. It might be easier to understand if we look at a scenario in another field. Suppose you need to have a knee replaced. While under anesthesia, the doctor replaces the w rong knee. When you awake to find this out, you are of course upset – and you are even more upset when you find out the doctor was intoxicated when he did your knee surgery. To make matters worse, you learn that he's an alcoholic and others on the medical team have known it for a while. They've wondered what to do, but they never reported it to anyone who could stop the doctor. What happens now? • Governmental authority . I n many states it is not exactly against the law to practice medicine while drunk. (I k now … amazing, right?) However, it is against the law to harm people. So the local district attorney will review the evidence and possibly prosecute the doctor for criminal acts under statutes that apply to his actions such as assault causing bodily harm. At a minimum, the state board of medical licensing is going to get involved and take action against the doctor, eventually suspending or revoking his license and affecting his ability to continue practicing medicine. CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 P AGE 7