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Lecture 1 - Introduction To Engineering Ethics

The document provides an introduction to engineering ethics, emphasizing the moral responsibilities of engineers to ensure product safety and public welfare. It discusses the distinction between legal and ethical considerations, the importance of confidentiality, conflict of interest, and the rights of engineers, including the right to whistle-blow. The text aims to prepare engineers for ethical dilemmas they may face in their professional practice.

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29 views13 pages

Lecture 1 - Introduction To Engineering Ethics

The document provides an introduction to engineering ethics, emphasizing the moral responsibilities of engineers to ensure product safety and public welfare. It discusses the distinction between legal and ethical considerations, the importance of confidentiality, conflict of interest, and the rights of engineers, including the right to whistle-blow. The text aims to prepare engineers for ethical dilemmas they may face in their professional practice.

Uploaded by

hamdunihamduni6
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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INTRODUCTION TO

ENGINEERING ETHICS

Prepared by
J. Richard IDELYA.
1
Ethics and Professionalism
General introduction
• Engineers produce products that people use. Ref Thailand
• They have duties to the society as well as to their
employers and themselves to careful analyze product
safety and the risk of accidents
• Note: News of product failures and associated accidents
frequently remind us that these responsibilities of
engineers have not been exercised:
• Essence of Engineering Ethics: is to develop moral
autonomy, the ability to think critically and independently
about moral issues and to apply this moral thinking to
situations that arise in the course of professional
engineering practice.
2
Why Studying Engineering
Ethics?
• The work of engineers can affect public
health and safety and can influence business
practices and even politics.
• To sensitize you to important ethical issues
before you have to confront them.
• To learn techniques for analyzing and
resolving ethical problems when they arise.

3
Picture 1: Kariakoo
building collapse
:July 2021
Picture 2: Kariakoo
Market under fire
:Nov 2024

Note: The work of


engineers can affect
public health and
safety and can
influence business
practices and even
politics
Ethics and Professionalism
• There is a distinction between what is legal and what is ethical. Many
things that are legal could be considered unethical. For example,
designing a process that releases a known toxic, but unregulated,
substance into the environment is probably unethical, although it is legal.

• Conversely, just because something is illegal doesn’t mean that it is


unethical. For example, there might be substances that were once thought
to be harmful, but have now been shown to be safe, that you wish to
incorporate into a product. If the law has not caught up with the latest
scientific findings, it might be illegal to release these substances into the
environment, even though there is no ethical problem in doing so.

Note: As an engineer, you are always minimally safe if you follow the
requirements of the applicable laws. But in engineering ethics, we seek to go
beyond the dictates of the law. Our interest is in areas where ethical
principles conflict and there is no legal guidance for how to resolve the
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conflict.
Ethics and Professionalism
• Ethics refers to a set of moral principles or values that influence
decisions and behavior, often addressing questions of right and wrong.
• In practice, ethics might involve considerations like honesty,
transparency, and fairness—say, telling the truth even when it’s
inconvenient or ensuring equitable treatment of others

• Professionalism: is the application of these principles in a work or


public context, emphasizing competence, integrity, respect, and
accountability.
• Professionalism builds on this by adding layers like maintaining
expertise, meeting deadlines, and communicating respectfully, even
under pressure.

• The two overlap heavily: unethical behavior—like cutting corners for


profit—often undermines professionalism, while unprofessional
conduct—like chronic tardiness—can signal a lack of ethical
commitment. 6
Rights and responsibilities of engineers
• Confidentiality - A hallmark of the professions is the requirement that
members of the profession keep certain information of their client
secret or confidential.
Engineers have an obligation to keep proprietary information of their
employer or client confidential. Most information about how a business is
run, its products and its suppliers, directly affects the company’s ability to
compete in the marketplace. Such information can be used by a competitor to
gain advantage or to catch up. Thus, it is in the company’s (and the
employee’s) best interest to keep such information confidential

Some of the types of information that should be kept confidential are


obvious: • test results and data, • information about upcoming unreleased
products, • designs or formulas for products, production costs,• production
yields etc.
• A non-disclosure agreement (NDA), is a legally binding contract between
two or more parties that outlines the sharing of confidential information,
knowledge, or material for specific purposes, while restricting access or7
disclosure to third parties.
Rights and responsibilities of engineers
• Conflict of interest - A conflict of interest arises when an interest, if
pursued, might lead a professional not to objectively and faithfully
discharge his professional duties to his employer.
• Actual conflicts of interest: Is the which compromise objectively with
engineering judgment.

• Potential conflicts of interest: Is the one that has not yet happened but
threaten and can easily become actual conflicts of interest (e.g. an
engineer might find herself becoming friends with a supplier for her
company)

• Situational conflict of interest: Is the conflict of interest that comes


from such situations that compromises the engineer’s ability to do this
work and future work and calls into question the engineer’s judgment and
which there is the appearance of a conflict of interest (e.g. when an
engineer is paid based on a percentage of the cost of the design, it may
appear that the engineer is making the design more expensive simply to 8
generate a larger fee)
Conflict of interests avoidance
Option 1: To follow the guidance of the company policy.

Option 2: In the absence of such a policy, asking a coworker or your


manager will give you a second opinion and will make it clear that you
aren’t trying to hide something.
Option 3: In the absence of either of these options, it is best to examine
your motives and use ethical problem-solving techniques.

Option 4: Finally, you can look to the statements in the professional


ethics codes that uniformly forbid conflicts of interest. Some of the codes
have very explicit statements that can help determine whether or not your
situation is a conflict of interest.

9
Rights and responsibilities of engineers
• Competitive Bidding – Getting unfair advantage over other engineers in bids for
contracts has been historically considered unethical because:
1) It could lead to engineers cutting corners on design work and could ultimately
undermine engineers’ duty to protect the safety and welfare of the public.
2) There were concerns that if engineers engaged in competitive bidding, it would
lead to price being the most significant (or perhaps only) basis for awarding
engineering contracts.
3) It was considered to be undignified and not at all in keeping with the image that
the engineering profession desired to put forth to the public.
4) lead to temptations such as submitting an unrealistically low bid in order to
secure work and then making up for this through change orders once the work
has been secured.
5) Overstating of qualifications to secure work
6) Making negative comments about potential other bidders
7) Attempting to subvert the bidding process through back channel contacts

Note: When participating in a competitive bid process, engineers must be fair, honest,
and ethical 10
Professional Rights
• Right of professional conscience. This involves the right to exercise
professional judgment in discharging one’s duties and to exercise this
judgment in an ethical manner. For example, to refuse to engage in
unethical behavior. No employer should ask or pressure an employee into
doing something that she considers unethical and unacceptable

• Right to privacy, •
• Right engage in personal activities of one’s choice beyond the workplace.
• Right to reasonably object to company policies without fear of retribution

• Whistle-blowing : Engineers have the professional right to disclose


wrongdoing within their organizations and expect to see appropriate
action taken. In many cases, an engineer is compelled to inform the public
or higher management of unethical or illegal behavior by an employer or
supervisor From a company’s perspective whistle-blowing is likely to be
perceived as disloyalty. It can lead to distrust, disharmony, and an
inability of employees to work together.
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Professional Rights
• Whistle-blowing should only be attempted if the following four
conditions are met:
1) There must be a clear and important harm that can be avoided by
blowing the whistle.
2) The whistle-blower must be in a very clear position to report and explain
on the problem.
3) The whistle-blower must have a reasonable chance of success in
stopping the harmful activity.
4) Whistle-blowing should be attempted only if there is no one else more
capable or more proximate to blow the whistle and if you feel that all
other lines of action within the context of the organization have been
explored

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-End -

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