Portable Sanitation Association International

W EEKLY EDITION MAY 30, 2018 Why Doesn't the PSAI Do Something about Bad Behavior? We Do! …continued By Karleen Kos, PSAI Executive Director • The PSAI's approach is educational and proactive. We use the two Codes as the foundation for many of our education and training programs for professionals in the industry. We also use them to help the public understand what they can reasonably expect from portable sanitation services. We work hard to pro vide resources that help everyone be better in their roles, both through our website and when they call the office. People want to succeed; the PSAI is here to help. Once in a while a call comes in about something that is clearly out of line. When that oc curs, the PSAI has to follow a protocol to ensure that laws are followed and everyone's rights are respected. The US government requires this so that Competitor A is protected from Competitor B if Competitor B tries to gain ground in their shared market by making false accusations. • First things first. If a caller alleges that laws are being broken, we refer the caller to the appropriate law enforcement agency. The PSAI has no jurisdiction over policing or regulatory enforcement. We try to answer questions that may come up about how to make this report, but only the caller knows if she or he will follow through. After any criminal issue has been handled (if there is one), the PSAI can proceed with its own process for address ing behavior that violates its C od e. • We explain the PSAI complaint process. The PSAI only has the authority to look into matters that are alleged to have been done by PSAI Members. So the first order of business is to find out if the company in question is a Member. If they are not, we coa ch the caller on the other options available. If the allegedly o ffending company is, in fact a M ember, we explain how to file a formal complaint and the due process that would then follow. You can read more about this very thorough procedure here . Should someone actually file a complaint about a PSAI Member company, the process swings into gear. This process preserves everyone's rights, adheres to established law for avoiding anti - trust issues and ensuring due process, and provides a pathway for people wit h genuine concerns to get them addressed. Since it was established in 2015 the Association has not had any cases that have gone through the entire procedure. Generally issues have been resolved by: • The parties coming to resolution as the result of the rec ommended step of talking to a company representative before filing a complaint. • The offending company resigning from the PSAI before the process proceeds. To date we have had no instances of an individual CPSP reported to be violating the Code of Ethics. The PSAI Board believes these Codes, together with the Members' commitments to follow them, raise the bar, and encourage others to do so as well, are do ing a great deal to help "raise all the boats." When someone goes off course, we hope to help them righ t the ship. We cannot control everyone's behavior, of course, but if we row together in the direction of a positive future for portable sanitation, we'll get further faster than any company will alone. In the process, we expect the bad sailors will be eith er left behind or sunk by their own mistakes. P AGE 3

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