Governance Policies

►AIST Bylaws

COVID Release & Hold Harmless Agreement:

The Association for Iron and Steel Technology (AIST) is complying with guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and relevant state and local authorities in an effort to provide a safe and healthy environment for all event attendees during the ongoing pandemic. However, COVID is an extremely contagious disease and it is not possible to eliminate the risk of spreading or contracting COVID. An inherent risk of exposure to COVID exists in any public place where people are present, and efforts to mitigate the risk of exposure to COVID may not be sufficient to prevent spreading or contracting COVID.

Each person who registers for and attends an AIST event or meeting (together with any other activities hosted or sponsored by, or affiliated with, AIST or any Partner Association, an “Event”) must acknowledge and agree to each of the following terms and conditions:

• I will comply with all orders, directives, and guidelines while attending or participating in any Event issued by AIST, a Partner Association, or any venue hosting an Event, including, without limitation, requirements related to hand sanitation, social distancing and use of face coverings.

• I agree not to attend any Event if I am experiencing symptoms associated with COVD (such as cough, shortness of breath, fever, or loss of sense of smell or taste), have a confirmed or suspected case of COVID, or have come in contact in the last 14 days with a person who has been confirmed or suspected of having COVID.

• I am aware of the highly contagious nature of COVID and the risk that I may be exposed to or contract COVID or other infectious diseases as a result of attending an Event.

• I understand and acknowledge that such exposure or infection may result in serious illness, personal injury, permanent disability or death.

• I acknowledge that risks of exposure to COVID may result from or be compounded by the actions, omissions or negligence of others, including AIST, the Partner Associations, the venue hosting an Event, and their respective agents, employees and contractors.

• I acknowledge that I am attending one or more Events with knowledge of the risks associated with COVID and the danger of exposure attendance may pose. I hereby accept and assume all risks of personal injury, illness, disability, and death resulting from COVID arising from attending or participating in the Event(s), whether caused by the negligence of AIST, a Partner Association, the venue hosting an event, their respective agents, employees, or contractors or otherwise.

• I hereby expressly waive and release any and all claims, now known or hereafter known, against AIST, each Partner Organization, and their respective officers, directors, employees, agents, affiliates, members, successors, and assigns (collectively, "Releasees"), on account of injury, illness, disability or death, arising out of or attributable to my attendance at or participation in any Event and exposure to or contraction of COVID, whether arising out of the negligence of any Releasee, the venue hosting an Event, or such venue’s agents or employees, or otherwise. I covenant not to make or bring any such claim against any Releasee, and forever release and discharge each Releasee from liability under, and will hold the Releasees harmless against, such claims.

Conflict of Interest Statement

Should a Board Member, Committee Chairperson, Committee Member, or Member believe at any time, that they may be unable or appear to be unable to maintain professional objectivity, or to not act in the best interests of AIST on any issue due to personal situation, employment, conflict of interest, membership in another organization, or other  reason, the member should excuse himself / herself from any position, vote or action on that particular matter.

Potential conflicts of interest should be discussed with the Executive Director or President.

Antitrust Compliance

Antitrust law prohibits agreements or understandings between two or more individuals or businesses to regulate prices or quantities of goods and services, to allocate customers or territories, to hinder or limit a competitor or potential competitor’s operations, or otherwise unreasonably restrain business activity. Discriminatory pricing or servicing is also prohibited.
 
Every individual who participates in AIST meetings and activities should follow these guidelines:

• DON’T discuss with other members your own or competitors’ prices, pricing procedures, or anything that might affect prices such as costs, discounts, terms of sale, or profit margins, or anticipated wage rates.

• DON’T make announcements or statements about your own prices or those of competitors.

• DON’T talk about what individual companies plan to do in particular markets or with particular customers.

• DON’T disclose to others any competitively sensitive information.

• DON’T propose or agree to any action intended to disadvantage or injure another company.

• DON’T stay at a meeting or activity where any such anti-competitive talk occurs.

• DO have an AIST staff person present at any meetings and insist on the agenda being followed and minutes kept.

• DO confer with AIST staff before making any statement with competitive ramifications.

It is incumbent upon all AIST members to adhere to these guidelines to avoid putting all parties and their respective companies at risk for antitrust law violation.

Anti-Harassment Policy

The Association for Iron and Steel Technology (AIST) is dedicated to providing harassment-free events for everyone, regardless of age, race, religion, disability, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation. We do not tolerate harassment in any form of anyone attending an AIST event.
 
Harassing behaviors include: offensive verbal comments related to age, race, religion, disability, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation; the use or display of sexual images, activities or commentary in public spaces; deliberate intimidation; stalking or following; harassing photography or recording; sustained disruption of events; or inappropriate physical contact.
 
Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. Participants violating this policy may be sanctioned or expelled from the event or the membership at the discretion of the AIST leadership.

Whistleblower Statement

AIST is committed to lawful and ethical behavior in all of its activities and requires a Board Member, Committee Chairperson, Committee Member, Member or Employee to act in accordance with all applicable laws, regulations and policies, and to observe high standards of business in the conduct of his or her duties and responsibilities.
This Whistleblower Statement is intended to encourage and enable a Board Member, Committee Chairperson, Committee Member, Member or Employee to raise serious concerns within the organization for investigation and appropriate action. With this goal in mind, no Board Member, Committee Chairperson, Committee Member, Member or Employee who in good faith reports a concern shall be threatened, discriminated against or otherwise subject to retaliation. Moreover, a person or persons who retaliates against someone who has reported a concern in good faith is subject to discipline up to and including dismissal from the volunteer position and / termination of membership.
Potential concerns should be discussed with the Executive Director or President.

Document Retention, Storage and Destruction

AIST shall retain records in-house or at an off-site location in accordance with the following guidelines:

Commerce Prohibition Policy for OFAC Sanctioned Countries

The purpose of this policy is to provide guidelines for administering any requested commerce from individuals or groups based in sanctioned countries as designated by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and as further recommended by the Executive Committee in July 2019.

►View Policy

Road Shows Attendance Policy

AIST welcomes participation in its Road Show events from individuals and companies associated with AIST and the steel industry. To protect our sponsoring companies that help AIST sustain the program, general attendance is limited to AIST staff, local Member Chapter officers, local Student Chapter representatives (officers, members and faculty advisors), the Board of Directors, the Foundation Board of Trustees and the AIME Board of Trustees. In addition, each sponsoring company is limited to two attendees.
 
Corporate sponsorship is beneficial as it reduces the cost for our host company. We acknowledge the support of our sponsors by allowing each company to setup a table-top display at the event which provides a unique opportunity to communicate with the host company personnel. We also include sponsor logos on our promotional materials and signs, and we acknowledge each company in any opening / closing ceremony and any post-event publication.
 
AIST reserves the right to grant, limit or deny attendance, sponsorship or advertising for the Road Show program.
 
AIST Board of Directors
Approved 9 May 2018