2-Ethics

Ethics is a branch of philosophy that enables the professional to make decisions about what is right and
wrong.

It's another consideration that you must make beyond simply the math and science solution. For the
professional to come up with the best solution, it should be both technically correct and ethically right.
To do this, the professional can look at his or her associations code of ethics and to the ethical theories
which will be discussed in an upcoming slide. The principles of right and wrong that are developed by an
individual or social group are something that the professional should be aware of.

What is considered right and wrong in a society will differ depending on where you live and work in the
world. Aside from this geographic context, one must also recognize that more principles are constantly
changing. What was acceptable 10 years ago might not be acceptable today. For instance, the moral
issue of equal pay for equal work wasn't being discussed and debated in the same way that it is today.
Luckily for the professional most moral or ethical decisions can be made by following your association’s
Code of ethics.

There is a clear connection between moral principles and how laws are developed. Laws look to reflect
society’s collective sense of morality. However, not all moral principles become laws. For example,
keeping a promise; and it takes time from when society is largely in agreement to when a law is
developed.

The professional can be exposed to legal consequences in three ways: criminal consequences, civil
liability and disciplinary proceedings from their association. But by acting ethically and following more
principles, the professionals can reduce their exposure to lawsuits.

Depending on which ethical theory you apply, you might come up with a different outcome. For instance,
let's look at the question “is it ethical to lie if doing otherwise would cause someone's emotional stress”?

A duty-based ethics approach, which we'll discuss in a later slide, would argue that even a small lie is
not acceptable, while a utilitarianism approach might say that a lie is the best action since it produces a
greater benefit for those involved.

When dealing with an ethical issue at work, you can follow a set of 6 steps that are outlined in your
ethics textbook. This will allow you to look at different theories, find out what makes the most sense,
and then proceed.

1) Recognizing the problem and gathering information.

2) Defining clearly the problem and any constraints.
3) Generating different solutions or methods to resolve the issue. You can draw on your ethical
theories at this point.
4) Evaluating the benefits and drawbacks of each solution. Is it legal who is impacted by this
decision?
5) Choosing the optimum solution.
6) Implementing the solution.
Since ethical theories can cause professionals to be confused about what decisions they should make,
associations in Canada have helped to establish a Code of Ethics. This code helps the professional make
sense of what they should do in most ethical situations and allows the association to discipline its
members for not following these guidelines.

Ethical theories and principles are the basis for the common duties that associations in Canada follow for
their code of ethics. Things like do good, not harm; respect others, be fair and truthful. These principles
have inspired duties which include the duty to society, employers, clients, colleagues, employees and
subordinates; duty to respect the profession and to oneself.

The important classical ethical theories that are covered in your ethics textbook are:

- Utilitarianism – Mill’s theory: states an action is correct if it produces the greatest benefit for the
greatest number of people.
- Kant’s formalism: states an action is correct if it follows a course of action that would be
acceptable as a universal principle for everyone to follow. Also, people shouldn't be used as a
means to achieve another goal.
- Locke’s right ethics: states that everyone has a right to life, health, liberty and possessions, and
the product of their work.
- Aristotle's virtue ethics believes that happiness is achieved by developing virtues or qualities of
character through deduction and reason

Each of these theories has pros and cons and may lead to different decisions or outcomes.

Associations receive their power from the provincial or territorial government that establishes an Act
giving the associations the ability to develop a code of ethics based on that act. The associations have
legal authority to enforce that Act by disciplining a member who is in violation. If someone from the
general public is breaking the code, then there's nothing the association can do since it is authority is
only for its own members.

This discipline can have an impact on the status of your license, and you may need to forfeit it depending
on the decision by the association.

The core tenants of the Code of Ethics that are common to most associations are:
- Protecting the health, safety, and welfare of the public, meaning, look at the full impact and life
cycle of your work; what are the people and environmental impacts.
- Have regard for the public; consult with them, listen to them, collaborate with them.
- Practice only in areas of competence. Don't work outside of your education and experience
comfort zone.
- Conduct oneself with integrity, honesty, fairness and objectivity in your professional activities;
meaning charge a fare rate, respect your profession, look at all options before making a decision.
- Compliance with applicable statutes, regulations and bylaws; don't break the rules that could
put you or your company in trouble.
- Uphold and enhance the honor, dignity and reputation of the profession; you want to be a
model representative of your association.
- Avoid conflicts of interest. For example, don't use your employers’ facilities for personal
activities; don't share confidential information.
 - Maintain competence of self and subordinates. Keep learning to ensure your skills and those of
your team remain current.
- Present the possible consequences of ignoring professional judgment. Let others know what will
happen if they don't follow your advice.
- Report illegal or unethical professional decisions or practices; be proactive and don't turn your
back on the legal activities.
- Promote the equitable treatment of all individuals. This covers all aspects of work, but can easily
be started with hiring, promotions and pay.

The Code of ethics helps to regulate the profession by providing clear guidelines on what a professional
should do and how they should behave. Not all provinces treat a code of ethics breach in the same way.
A code of ethics breach is considered equivalent to professional misconduct in Alberta, New Brunswick,
Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nova Scotia.

In BC, Manitoba, PEI, Quebec, Saskatchewan and the territories, the term professional misconduct is not
clearly defined so breach of the code is likely enforceable. In Ontario, a breach that is solely a code of
ethics breach is not enforceable under the Act.

Issues and cases concerning ethical dilemmas by trying to solve them using the code of ethics and
other approaches - You want to refer to Appendix F in your ethics textbook.

Conflicts of interest from the perspective of ethical dilemmas, solutions and decisions can be a broad
topic. But let's look at 4 activities that may cause a dilemma:

a) If you were to work for a company or client that develops an addictive product such as tobacco
or alcohol, or work in the gambling industry or armament, such as a landmine manufacturer or
even industries that needlessly pollute - while it may be legal to work for these companies and
clients, you must feel comfortable carrying out their work and ensure that the projects don't
break the code of ethics such as duty to society and duty to the profession.
b) Conflicts between technical authority and management authority can be a tricky area for
professionals, as a technical authority, you give recommendations to senior management and
hope that they will make the right decision. If the senior management overrules your advice, you
want to clearly explain your advice and the consequences of ignoring it and get a response from
them in writing to document their acknowledgement of your decision and consequences of
ignoring it. However, in cases where senior management doesn't do the right things and the
result involves illegal activity or an outcome that can put people or the environment in danger,
the professional has a duty to report this situation to the appropriate author. - Case one entitled
Toxic spill, given an Appendix F of your ethics textbook, outlines a good example of when the
professionals should have acted to protect the environment. This case reminds us that just
following orders from senior management is not a legal defense.
c) If the professional observes unsafe, unethical or legal practices, they have the responsibility to
report it immediately and blow the whistle if necessary. The steps taken really depend on the
circumstances of the event. If the professional believes human life is at danger, the professional
must act fast to notify those who can implement a change in course in a timely manner. If those
who are working on the project are not responding quickly enough or disagree with the solution
proposed, the professional has a duty to report the incident to appropriate authorities, which
may include their association, safety authorities or the police.
 d) Loyalty to the employer can sometimes be in conflict when there is a more important duty to
society or client. - Case one entitled toxic spill, given an Appendix F of your ethics textbook,
aligns a good example of when duty to the environment is more important than the duty to your
employer. Similarly, case #7 called commissioning of sewage plant explains the case of when the
professional had to put the loyalty of the client first. Being loyal to your employer is an important
part of the Code of Ethics. However, in certain circumstances, the professional will have to use
their judgment as to whether loyalty to someone else takes priority.
e) Limiting practice to the areas of competence is something that can be done by the professional
when being hired by a company, and when bidding for jobs. The professionals should make clear
what is inside their area of competence so that the company does not expect services or
knowledge outside of that area. If you are managing other professionals, you should be aware of
their limitations so that you don't assign work that is outside of their competence. These topics
are covered in the Code of ethics areas under duty to employer clients and employees, and
subordinates.
f) Plagiarism and copyright infringement are important to respect in Canada.
Plagiarism is passing off the written work of someone else as your own to avoid plagiarism
issues, it is as simple as citing your sources.
Copyright law may not exist in other countries, but in Canada it's important to recognize. If you
would like to use someone else's work for commercial purposes, you must seek permission from
the author or publisher. By showing this respect to the copyright creator, you are follwing the
Code of Ethics clause that relates to respecting other professionals and the duty to your
employer or client. On the other hand, if you are a copyright owner, you receive automatic
copyright when you develop your work or you can take an additional staff of having it registered.
But it is your responsibility to monitor if anyone is using their copyright without permission.
g) Professional responsibility versus employment issues. These topics are connected in a very real
way. For instance, your manager may demand that you take on a project outside of your area of
competence, thus putting the quality of the project at risk for short-term financial gain. Another
example is accepting gifts from a supplier which may cloud your judgment and favor a less
qualified company, thus not following the duty to the employer. Or you may be working on a
project with an overly demanding client, and you don't feel motivated to deliver as high quality
of work. The responsibility of the professional can be impacted by employment issues, and it is
up to you, the professional, to recognize this and deal with each situation in a professional
manner.

Professional competence is the asset that you bring to a project. However, your technical competence is
limited to a narrow area based on your education and experience. If you're designing something new,
you must be sufficiently familiar with the topic so that you can become quickly competent by study your
research. If you can't hire for that expertise is necessary.

Case number three, given an Appendix F of your ethics textbook discusses the consequences of when an
engineer with sewer systems and municipal design experience attempts to design a retaining wall
without experience. The wall ends up failing because the engineer copied a design from a textbook and
failed to consult current codes and do foundation investigation. By taking on work outside of one's
competency, the professionals should consider the Code of ethics duties such as duty to society,
employer, clients and profession.

Reviewing the work of other professionals is permitted and in most cases the reviewing professionals
should contact the original professional as a means of courtesy and to ensure full communication and
understanding of the original design methodology. The Code of ethics typically has a clause that deals
with a duty to inform other profs. In some cases, our review can be done secretly if the request is for
public safety reasons or a lawyer requested and the review is to be confidential, or the review is of a
proprietary matter such as a trade secret.
In most other cases, the reviewing professionals should establish full communication with the original
professional during the review - Case number 18, entitled reviewing the work of another engineer given
an Appendix F of your ethics textbook looks at an example of the consequences of not informing the
original designer.

Maintaining confidentiality is important when dealing with sensitive information. This can be particularly
important when working for a client or for your employer's - Case number 12 given an Appendix F of
your ethics textbook outlines a great example on this topic. In this case, an employee agrees not to
disclose duplicate, use or sell a trade secret about the companies control system used in the logging
industry. The employee leaves the company after a few years and designs a more advanced control
system and then attempts to sell the system to their old employers clients. This is a clear breach of the
agreement made, professional misconduct and would violate the Code of ethics clause that deals with
the duty to employer and duty to the profession.

For an assignment, it is not a topic that is specifically discussed in most associations code of ethics.
However, engineers and geoscientists in New Brunswick does address this in its code. It asks the
professionals to observe the rules of the local country, but if none exist, follow the Code of Ethics. In
certain instances, this may be challenging to meet Canada high standards such as minimum wage criteria
or not paying extortion to local groups for permission to carry out the project. However, avoiding the
project might miss the opportunity to have a net positive impact on the community. The professional
must also consider Aristotle's virtue-based ethics, which talks about a golden mean as a middle ground
to the low standards of a developing country and the high standards of Canada. The professional might
also consider Mills utilitarianism, which looks for an action that produces the greatest benefit for the
greatest number of people.