Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/845499
W EEKLY EDITION JULY 5, 2017 Savin g the Show When Bad Actors Threaten the Portable Sanitation Industry … continued • Free market rewards and penalties . Immediately after this bad surgery happens, you tell everyone you know. Soon, that doctor's reputation is ruined. Your friends say they would n't go to that hospital if they were dying. Thus the facility is forced to re - examine its procedures and requirements for dealing with impaired medical staff to win back patients and to keep its doors open. Meanwhile, your lawyer helps you sue both the doc tor and hospital for negligence. • Industry self - regulation . The doctor has been a member of the American Medical Association. The AMA has a Code of Ethics and conducting surgery while drunk, replacing the wrong knee, and otherwise messing up a patient's lif e are definitely out of bounds. The AMA can take disciplinary action against the doctor such as admonishing or censuring him, placing him on probation as a member of the AMA, or expelling him from the AMA. The role of associations in dealing with bad acto rs. But wait! That's it? All the AMA can do is throw him out of the AMA? And all the PSAI can do with bad actors in portable sanitation is toss them out of the PSAI? Well, yes and no. Keep in mind that the governmental authority and the free market alrea dy hold bad actors accountable for their criminal and/or negligent actions in a manner far more powerful than an association could. Associations do not have the power to prosecute or levy financial penalties. Associations also don't have the power to run s omeone out of business – that's up to the customers. Can you imagine what would happen if some members of an industry – whether through their association or not – could band together to force a competitor out of business? Well, actually, you don't have to imagine it. Read US history covering the industrial age, and you'll find that allowing companies to join together to run others out of business didn't work out too well. That's why we have anti - trust laws. They protect companies from the predatory behavio r of other companies and keep the playing field somewhat even. Trade associations have a unique self - regulating role. While we cannot put people out of business because they make everyone else look bad, we can: • Set standards – such as the PSAI Code of Ex cellence for companies and the PSAI Code of Ethics (see page 12) for individuals – which clearly define the sorts of behaviors that are appropriate and inappropriate in our industry. • Educate stakeholders about the standards . This includes educating me mbers of the industry and their teams – so they know how to do things right. It also includes educating other relevant audiences, including government and the public, so they know how to spot the good guys and stay away from the bad guys. • Certify professio nals who have been trained, who demonstrate knowledge of standards by passing an examination, and who commit to following the Code of Ethics at the individual level, even if their company tells them to do wrong. CONTINUED ON PAGE 9 P AGE 8