Introduction
The maintenance and reliability (“M&R”) industry’s continuous improvement process involves the indirect transfer of maintenance and reliability and physical asset management concepts and practices from the “best-in-class” organizations to those seeking to improve. SMRP facilitates this process through establishment of standards and industry guidelines related to benchmarking, metrics development, maintenance and reliability knowledge, physical asset management, development of certification, tests, education and other activities.
To guide SMRP’s activities and enhance the professionalism and overall effectiveness of SMRP initiatives and programs, SMRP has established this SMRP Code of Conduct. Compliance with this code of conduct is a requirement for participation on SMRP committees, attending SMRP events, and involvement in the Society.
Governing Principles
The activities of the volunteer members of SMRP committees and the SMRP staff who support SMRP committees’ activities shall be governed by the following principles:
Confidentiality
- Volunteers must exercise reasonable care, whether participating in SMRP activities, making statements or otherwise. Volunteers must be honest,act in good faith, and remain loyal to SMRP. In plain English, that means the volunteer must look out for SMRP’s best interests, not the individual’s best interests or those of the individual’s member company.
- Data and other information submitted to SMRP for committee purposes shall be used to establish performance and practice norms, to codify industry standards and best practices. Data and other information may also be used to support SMRP research initiatives with the goal of expanding or amending the body of knowledge, certification, tests, education and other activities.
- Any interchange of data and information for committee purposes shall be treated as confidential to the individuals and organizations involved. Confidential individual company data shall not be communicated to any individual or other organization without the expressed written permission of the company submitting the data. Only aggregated data shall be published or disclosed outside of the committee. Rules for aggregating data to protect individual company confidentiality shall be established by the individual SMRP committees involved and shall not be in conflict with SMRP policies which shall be strictly followed.
- Committee members and volunteers shall have access to information that, if revealed to outsiders, could be damaging or sensitive to other members or staff or harmful to the best interest of the organization. Information provided to committees and volunteers may concern personnel, financial, contractual, membership or legal matters. It shall often be confidential and intended for use in decision making and governance. Information shall be held in strictest of confidence and shall not be divulged to any outside party, including other members, without authorization of the Chair or Executive Director.
- No attempt shall be made to gain confidential information from any organization that is not related to the activities of SMRP committees.
- No attempt shall be made to seek confidential information on other companies through SMRP staff, Board or committee members.
- If an individual inadvertently receives any information that, based on this Code of Conduct, they should not have, they should inform the Executive Director of how the information was received and return the information back to SMRP.
- If committee members are made knowledgeable of SMRP information concerning personnel, financial, contractual, membership or legal matters, such information shall be held in the strictest confidence and shall not be divulged to any outside party without the authorization of the SMRP Board of Directors or Executive Director.
- Any products or analytical reports developed by committees or individuals from data received shall belong to the SMRP.
- Discussions or actions that might lead to or imply an interest in restraint of trade, market customer allocation schemes, dealing arrangements, bid rigging, bribery, collusion, boycotts, prices, sales related data, misappropriation or otherwise violate the SMRP Antitrust Policy and are strictly prohibited.
Behavior
SMRP prohibits any form of harassment or discrimination, verbal, physical, or otherwise. This code of conduct applies to all participants including, but not limited to, attendees, speakers, exhibitors, staff, volunteers, and guests at all SMRP-sponsored events, offerings, and platforms. SMRP staff and volunteers in leadership positions will enforce this code throughout all events.
All SMRP event participants will treat others with respect, valuing diverse viewpoints, ideas, and opinions, and maintaining professional and ethical conduct during the course of the event. Harassment, discrimination, or intimidation in any form will not be tolerated.
Whether it is based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, physical or mental ability, disability, physical appearance, ethnicity, religion, political affiliation, or nationality. It includes deliberate intimidation, stalking, unwelcome attention, harassing photography or recording, sustained disruption of talks or other events, inappropriate/unnecessary physical contact and unprofessional use of nudity and/or sexual images in public spaces or in presentations. Behavior that is acceptable to one person may not be acceptable to another, so use discretion to be sure that respect is communicated. Harassment intended in a joking manner still constitutes unacceptable behavior.
Reporting Procedure
Any individual who is the subject of harassment or other unacceptable behavior, or any individual who has witnessed such as incident, should notify the SMRP Executive Director or a member of the SMRP Board of Directors immediately, or within five days of an incident. Individuals reporting harassment are not expected to discuss the incident with the offending party. Reporting individuals will be asked to provide a description of the incident and may be invited to support any potential investigation by participating in an information gathering interview. All reports will be treated seriously and investigated promptly.
Investigation Procedure
Upon receipt of a report of harassment or other unacceptable behavior, the incident will be investigated by the SMRP Ethics Committee and Executive Director, with the goal of taking action within 30-days. If any of the prescribed members of the investigative party are colleagues or close associates of parties involved in the incident, another current or immediate-past member of the Executive Committee or Board of Directors may be asked to serve on the investigation team. Additionally, the party or parties involved may be temporarily removed from their position until a decision is made.
Individuals engaging in unacceptable behavior prohibited by this policy may be subject to sanctions at the discretion of the investigating group, based on the severity and nature of the behavior. Such sanctions may include but are not limited to:
- Verbal warning
- Ejection from the event without refund
- Prohibition from future attendance at SMRP events
- Removal from SMRP leadership positions and/or committee membership, if applicable
- Revoked CMRP or CMRT
- Notification to the offender’s employer
The SMRP Board of Directors reserves the right to pursue additional measures as it may determine is appropriate. In the event that any individual is dissatisfied with the results of the investigation and resulting sanctions, he or she may appeal to the SMRP Executive Committee.
SMRP will not tolerate any form of retaliation against individuals reporting an incident, and such retaliation is considered a violation of this policy subject to the same sanctions as harassment itself.