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TECHNICAL
Island of Integrity
Last month I referred to Islands of Integrity in the plumbing environment and leadership .
Rory Macnamara
Thinking about the phrase made me dig a bit deeper to establish whether it has a wider role than just in the public space as is perceived by some .
Delving into several views , this one particularly provided a broader thought process where our industry could apply their minds when thinking about PLUMBING and not parts of plumbing .
“ Islands of integrity have an impact at three levels . One is the impact caused by their “ corruption-free ” performance . A second level is their impact in fulfilling their institutional purpose . The third level is their effect on the wider system . One crucial obstacle to the wider impact of islands of integrity is the absence and limitations of methodologies to identify those positive outliers . The lessons that can be learned and potentially transferred to other institutions and sectors depend on making existing outstanding cases visible . Islands of integrity also offer opportunities regarding the identification and amplification of knowledge and the stimulation of innovation .” – Nieves Zúñiga , Transparency International , nzuniga @ transparency . org .
The third level is where we should be playing – how does the plumbing island of integrity impact on the wider system ? To me this means not only public but private institutions , official bodies and bodies that affect our day-to-day work and lives . Of course , we must take notice of levels one and two but in this context in whatever role we fulfil we must consider our impact on the wider system or sector . Selling and installing non-compliant product is essentially a corrupt practice – impact – failure to deliver what is expected at the expense of others . Pretending to be a plumber when one is not qualified to do so – impact- deceitful / dishonest , corrupt , and endangering the health and safety of others .
Public departments that fail time and again to respond to critical issues affecting our industry like , DHET , DTIC , NRCS , SABS , DWS to name a few , lack integrity ( honesty to respond ) and show disrespect to those communicating .
Claiming to hold a Mark for a compulsory standard when knowingly this is not true but sold because it sells easily and cheaper – impact – corrupt practice , anti-competitive and dishonest .
Sadly , the list goes on but hopefully the point is being made . We have this in media where circulation claims are made without supporting independent verification , like claiming a Mark when one does not have one , so too with circulations / distributions where media can obtain independently verified certificates for both print and electronic / digital through the Audit Bureau of Circulations .
Of course , it costs more , but to make claims that are not true to gain a competitive advantage is nothing but fraud .
So , back to the island of integrity , the plumbing island of integrity . It is not someone else ’ s problem , it is about each one of us raising the industry to achieve the noble statement of “ Plumbers protect the Nation ’ s Health .”
Credit to the pockets of excellence I spoke of last month , but pockets are a part of the whole . We need to aim for the whole . PA
“ It is not someone else ’ s problem .”
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www . plumbingafrica . co . za @ plumbingonline @ plumbingonline @ PlumbingAfricaOnline November 2022 Volume 28 I Number 9