*Codes of Ethics:

Codes of ethics are guiding principles established to set a standard of conduct in society. They
help them maintain honesty and integrity in the society by enforcing morality and humanity. All
professionals in their capacity have their standard code of ethics that helps them maintain that
standard of conduct.

*What is a Code of Ethics for Engineers?

A code of ethics for engineers is a set of guiding principles that establish standards of behavior
and moral guidelines for engineers in their line of duty.
The primary purpose of codes of ethics in engineering professions is to protect the public and
uphold professional standards.

*Why Do Engineers Follow Codes of Ethics?

There are several reasons why engineers follow a code of ethics. Some of these reasons include;
maintaining safety, integrity and honesty, upholding proper decision making in issues of
dilemma and maintaining discretion in their jobs.

1. Maintaining Safety

The work of engineers entails working on projects that impact the lives of members of society.
Many times, their work involves building structures that people use daily. Therefore, engineers
need to have a code of ethics that guide them in their daily work to ensure that they uphold the
best interest of society.

Engineering code of ethics ensures that engineers put the safety of the members of the society
first when doing their work. It means that an engineer will work with standard and approved
material and that they will follow the set engineering procedures during their career.

2. Integrity and Honest

Engineers, like all other professions, require integrity and honesty in their jobs. Codes of ethics
enable them to be accountable for their actions. They act as guiding principles for determining
what is right or wrong.

A code of ethics for engineers ensures that they remain honest in all their transactions. Even
when faced with a dilemma or other pressures in their duty, when they adhere to the code of
ethics, they will remain honest.

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3. Builds Public Trust and Confidence in the Profession

Engineering codes of ethics should be considered a crucial part of the engineering profession
because it helps create faith among the population that engineers are ethical people who will do
what is right even when no one else is looking. It also provides assurance to others in different
fields like construction, manufacturing, software development, etc., that they have someone on
their side with respect to safety or quality standards.

4. Protects Clients and Employers

The code of ethics also ensures that engineers maintain discretion when dealing with their
clients’ information. Generally, the principle of ethics places client’s personal information
privileged, and engineers must ensure that that information remains so.

They should not disclose any details regarding the client such as their name, age, gender,
location or even the project at hand. The engineers must preserve such information unless the
client states otherwise. Likewise, the engineer should not disclose any information regarding
their employer unless otherwise stated.

5. Ensures Ethical Decision Making in Areas of Uncertainty

A dilemma or a predicament refers to a situation where there is a difficult choice to make

between two or more alternatives. Dilemmas are relatively common occurrences in everyone’s
lives. Like all people, engineers face dilemmas in their line of duty. A code of ethics guides
engineers in making these difficult decisions by ensuring that they choose what is moral. They
give a clear guideline into what decision is ethical and serves the interests of the society rather
than individual gain.

*What Are the Fundamental Principles of Engineering Code of Ethics?

Every engineer in their line of duty is expected to:

• Uphold the safety, welfare and health of the society at all times
• Be truthful and honest when issuing public statements
• Offer their services in their areas of expertise only
• Be honest and trustful with their employers and clients
• Be honorable, responsible, lawful and ethical in their professional capacity to ensure good
reputation and honor among the society
• Treat all people with fairness with respect and dignity regardless of their personality,
gender, race or other personal identification issues
• Use their knowledge and skills for the improvement of humanity
• Anticipate the current needs of society and fulfill them
Every engineer has to follow and uphold these basic principles in their jobs without fail. In the
event of a conflict or dilemma in fulfilling these basis codes, the engineer is bound to enforce the
code based on the importance of each stakeholder.

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*Engineering Code of Ethics and Stakeholders:

There are five key stakeholders to which engineers have a responsibility. Below is a list of these
stakeholders in their order of priority:

1. Society
2. Natural environment
3. Professionalism
4. Employers and Clients
5. Peers
When faced with a dilemma, an engineer should make a decision based on this list. He should
place the needs of the society first, then work his way down the list as follows.

1. Engineers and Society

The engineering code of ethics places society first. It ensures that the engineers put the needs and
interests of the society first before those of their employers, clients or themselves. The
necessary code of ethics for engineers to society are:
• Place the safety and welfare of society first at all times;
• Improve humanity’s quality of life in their duties;
• Dispense truthful opinions that are honest, true and well-founded to the public;
• Treat all people in the society equally and fairly regardless of their identity or societal
status;
• Endure no tolerance for issues of corruption, bribery, and fraud. They must report any
incidences of corruption, bribery or fraud to their superiors;
• Respect social diversity and uphold these considerations in the implementation of their
duties;
• Aspire to be of service following civil norms;
• Report any misconduct to their superiors or authority significantly if the wrongdoing harms
the safety, health, or welfare of the society; and
• Assess the capabilities, shortcomings and inference of the existing and future technology in
their line of duty.
2. Natural Environment and Engineering

The natural environment is another important stakeholder in the hierarchy of the engineering
code of ethics. All engineer has to protect the environment and ensure the sustainability of the
environment for the society and future generations.

The necessary code of ethics for engineers to the natural environment include:

• Adhering to the laws of sustainable development at all times;

• Utilizing resources carefully, and minimizing the depletion of these resources;
• Balancing the societal, environmental and economic implications of their work; and
• Alleviate the adverse societal, economic and ecological effects to ensure that there is a
balance.

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3. Engineering Professionalism

Another essential stakeholder of the code of ethics for engineers is their professionalism.
Engineers must respect their professions and conduct themselves professionally at all times. The
necessary code of ethics for engineers to their career are:

• Conducting themselves with honor, integrity and dignity in their professional capacity;
• Ensuring that they adhere to the legal requirements during their engineering practice;
• Promote fair competition and condemn unfair competition;
• Be truthful with their professional qualifications and experience;
• Encourage mentorship and healthy knowledge sharing with current or future engineers to
ensure they pass on good skills;
• Engage in professional development to ensure that they better their skills; and
• Give the public some form of education on the importance of engineering to society.

4. Employers and Clients

All engineers have to know that they are dependent on their employers or their clients to perform
their duties. For this reason, they follow a code of ethics when dealing with either of these
parties. They should:

• Be honest and truthful to their employers or clients at all times, and conduct themselves with
integrity and honest;
• Discuss clearly with their clients or employers any existing, potential conflict of interests
that may arise in their duties;
• Discuss with clarity and timeliness any issues of risk associated with the implementation of
their duties;
• Keep their clients or employer’s personal information confidential;
• Provide their services only in their areas of expertise;
• Inform clients or employers of any consequences that may arise if the needs of the public
are overruled; and
• Review all work products before signing, approving or sealing them to promote
responsibility.

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5. Peers

Finally, engineers are bound by a code of ethics when dealing with their peers. Here, the
necessary regulation of ethics ensures that engineers:

• Only expect credit for their professional effort;

• Acknowledge the works and actions of other engineers;
• Ensure safety and adequate health requirements in their workplaces;
• Work with honesty and fairness in their professional capacity;
• Respect and honor other engineers during all engagements and collaborations;
• Encourage the development and education of other engineers to ensure that they maintain a
reputable profession in the future;
• Enhance equality and respect in their supervision duties;
• Provide only professional comments on the nature of duties of other engineers; and
• Report any violations of the code of ethics to the relevant bodies for proper action.

*Why study engineering ethics?

Every engineer needs to study engineering ethics before they engage in any act of service. The
lead reason behind this is to ensure that engineers uphold the interest of the above-stated
stakeholders in dispensing their duties. Engineers need to endure that they put the needs of others
first before their own when dispensing their duties.

Engineers also study the engineering code of ethics to ensure that they maintain professionalism-
any professional needs to maintain a standard, which is what the code of ethics does. When
engineers follow these codes, they maintain high levels of professionalism, ensuring that their
profession remains respectable.

*What are the three types of ethics?

There are 3 types of ethics: Prohibitive, preventive, and aspirational.

What is preventive ethics?

Preventing harm to the public through technology (Ex. whistle blowing, responsible care) and
avoiding professional misconduct. Must notify the authorities.

What is aspirational ethics?

Using your professional knowledge to promote human well-being.

What is prohibitive ethics?

Acting to not do things that are fundamentally unprofessional, such as, taking bribes or conflicts
of interest.

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What is the appropriate type of professional ethics? "An engineer should perform services
only in his or her areas of expertise".

Preventive. I guess this is not a prohibitive rule, but rather a preventive measure.

* Difference Between Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct:

Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct are the standards that a group must adhere to, so as to
remain the member of the organisation. The primary difference between code of ethics and code
of conduct is that code of ethics is a set of principles which influence the judgement while the
code of conduct is a set of guidelines that influence employee’s actions.

These statements are formally addressed and need to be accepted by the members when they join
the organisation for the first time. These help the business enterprise in regulating the business
efficiently. While code of conduct is something that states organized values, code of ethics is
used to observe ethical norms and gives a foundation to rules of conduct. Check out the article to
know more on these two topics.

Comparison Chart:

Basis for
Code of Ethics Code of Conduct
Comparison

An aspirational document, issued by the A directional document containing

board of directors containing core specific practices and behavior, that are
Meaning
ethical values, principles and ideals of followed or restricted under the
the organization is Code of Ethics. organization is Code of Conduct.

Nature General Specific

Scope Wide Narrow

Governs Decision making Actions

Length Short Comparatively longer

Disclosure Publicly disclosed. Employees only.

Focused on Values or principles Compliance and rules

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