The 5th Empire - Certification

Business owners care about reputation. It is in their interest that customers are well taken care of. However, business owners do sometimes elect to take on more risk than they should. Accidents due to irresponsible risk taking do happen, sometimes with catastrophic consequences. This is a problem that the 5th Empire deals with through certification.

Most business owners carry insurance against liability. Restaurant owners, for example, insure their establishments against accidents. They also like to inform customers that their services are of the highest standard. They will gladly let a reputable certification company inspect their premises if this leads to cheaper insurance and a certificate they can put on display.

Restaurant owners will want as high a ranking as possible. The certification company on the other hand must be careful not to certify businesses incorrectly. If they are too generous with their ratings, no insurance company will take them seriously. Their certificates are only worth as much as their reputation. If they get sloppy, or too generous, they loose business.

Wherever insurance companies are involved, certification businesses can provide a service. Where no insurance is required certification becomes redundant. It is hard to imagine hairdressers in the 5th Empire having to certify their businesses. People do not run any risk going to a hairdresser. Only businesses that can seriously hurt their clients will require certification in order to get insurance. The same goes for people operating dangerous equipment. They will not obtain insurance without a certificate.

Case in point are cars and their owners. Insurance companies will not insure car salesmen who sell cars to uninsured individuals, and no-one will get insurance for driving a car without a certificate. The 5th Empire will not be full of uninsured drivers who do not know their traffic rules. Enforcement of this will be carried out by security companies working for road companies. Uninsured drivers pose a risk to road companies which may be sued for allowing such people onto their roads. They will therefore be interested in keeping such people off their roads.

The 5th Empire will be no less safe than state run society. The differences between the two types of societies lie in how things are organized, not in the actual problems being dealt with. In the sphere of personal safety, the 5th Empire uses insurance and certification where state run society uses mandate and licensing.

Certified team member - By Seeris - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link