Ethics & Professionalism

Profession: Definition & Characteristics

Profession:
• A profession is defined as having a systematic knowledge acquired
through specialized training or education and practicing the same as
an occupation.
• Besides these, professionals bear morals and ethical behaviors.
• The content of profession with moral and ethical behaviors is
professionalism.
• A professional helps in providing specialized work of service to the
societies.
The following are some of the features of a profession :
• A professional acquires a systematic knowledge and enhance skill.
• A professional exercises the knowledge and enhance skill ethically
as an expert, occupational or professional.
• The service or works as an expertise of a professional is evaluated
by the public.
• Professionals follow code of conducts to keep moral of the
profession high.
• Professionals have their own cultures
Today, professions are found loosing professionalism due to
following cause:
• Inadequate salary.
• Defective social norms or value.
• Low moral of the individual.
• Non-regularities of law and regulations.
• Lack of political commitment.
Engineering Profession:
Definition:
Nepal Engineering Council Act 2054 defines the engineering
profession as the occupation which is done by the engineers.
Further, Engineer is defined as a person having graduate degree in
engineering from the institute recognized by the council.
Engineering morals, ethics and professionalism:
• Ethics is generally concerned with rules or guidelines for morals
and/or socially approved conduct.
• Ethical standards generally apply to conduct that can or does have
a substantial effect on people’s lives.
Why Engineering Ethics ???
Studying Engineering Ethics can achieve at least four desirable
outcomes:
a) increased ethical sensitivity.
b) increased knowledge of relevant standards of conduct.
c) improved ethical judgment.
d) improved ethical will-power (i.e., a greater ability to act ethically
when one wants to).
Some Definitions:
Etiquette
• rules of acceptable personal behavior and courtesy
• e.g. proper dress, answering the phone, language, talking about
others
Laws
• a system of rules and punishments clearly defined
• e.g. legal driving age(minimum driving age is 18 years in Nepal)
Morals
• personal rules of right and wrong behavior
• e.g. derived from a person’s upbringing, religious beliefs
Ethics
• a code or system of rules defining moral behavior for a particular
society
Engineering ethics:
• Engineering ethics refers to the set of moral principles and values
that guide the conduct and decision-making of engineers in their
professional practice.
• These ethical principles help engineers make responsible choices,
prioritize safety and well-being, and ensure that their work benefits
society as a whole.
• Engineering ethics involves considering the broader implications of
technological advancements, balancing competing interests, and
upholding the integrity of the engineering profession.
Codes of ethics and guidelines for professional engineering
practice:
• Ethics is the science of morality. The term ethics is derived from
Greek word ‘ethos’ which refers to the philosophical science that
deals with the rightness and wrongness to human action.
Some of the accepted ethical principles are:
• Honesty & integrity
• Fulfilling commitments
• Being fair & open minded
• Being accountable for one’s decision
• Willing to admit mistake
• Sustainable management and care for the environment
• Community well being
• Professionalism, integrity and capability
Engineering ethics:
1.Discipline and Honesty
2.Politeness and Confidentiality
3.Non-discrimination
4.Professional work
5.Deeds which may cause harm to the engineering profession
6.Personal responsibility
7.State name, designation and registration.
8. No publicity or advertisement must be made which may
cause unnecessary effect.
Moral Dilemma and Ethical Decision Making:
Moral Dilemma:
• Moral dilemma is the condition in which one must have to choose
one of the two equally unpleasant things to perform.
• The feature of moral dilemma is that the agent should perform one of
the action among two actions but not both actions and no matter what
action is performed will be wrong in some way.
• In such cases, there is no clear right or wrong path.
Ethical Decision Making:
Ethical decision making is the process that helps people to make
proper decision during ethical dilemma.
It examines three perspectives:
1. ethic of obedience
2. ethic of care
3. ethic of reason
To make a good ethical decisions, one need a trained sensitivity to
ethical issues and a practiced method for exploring the ethical
aspects of a decision.
The priority that must be considered while making ethical decision
are as follows:
1. Society
2. Profession
3. Organization
4. Individual
Framework for Ethical Decision Making:
Recognize an ethical issue
 Get the facts
 Evaluate alternative actions
 Make a decision and test it
 Act and reflect on the outcome
Relations of the engineering professionals to basic science and
technology & other professions:
 In practice engineers have to work with the different
professionals like:
• Accountants - for keeping accounts and audit
• Lawyers - for legal advise
• Doctors - at the time of injury
 So, Engineering profession should have relation with other
professions.
The engineer:
• should act as faithful agent or trustee for employer or client.
• should not accept compensation or remuneration from more than
one party for same service or same work, with out the approval of
all interested parties.
• should inform his employer or client of his financial interest in
any vendor or contractor and this should not affect to his services.
• should undertake only those engineering assignments for which he
is qualified.
• should provide complete information on working conditions and
status of employment.
• should have proper regard for the health, safety and welfare of
public in performing his/her professional duties.
Duties of an Engineer
The major duties of an engineer and architect are as follows:
1. Planning, surveying, designing and estimating the project.
2. Supervise and control the work.
3. Constantly participate in the ongoing projects.
4. Supervise and coordinate the subordinates.
5. Take responsibility for safety precautions at the job site.
6. Have the authority to issue variation order.
7. Have the right to stop the work.
8. Familiar with work practices and customs.
Liability and Negligence
Liability
• Liability is defined as being obligated to pay for damages or loss.
• It is the obligation to pay penalty for not fulfilling the defined
duties, negligence and tort.
• Liability is of following types:
1. Liability under contract
2. Liability in tort
3. Liability under statute
Negligence
• Negligence is the lack of proper care or attention.
• It involves actions of the people which is against the standards.
• To be the compensated from the guilty of negligence, following
elements should be established:
1. The defendant had a legal obligation to behave in certain way.
2. The defendant failed to fulfill this obligation by acting
inappropriately.
3. The injury or loss was caused due to the defendant's legal
breach of contract resulting damage.
Tort
• Tort is defined as the damage, injury or wrongful act done willfully,
negligently or in circumstances involving strict liability without
breach of contract.
• It involves the situation in which a person's behavior caused
suffering to others.
Thank you