Ethics in Engineering
Introduction
The subject of ethics in engineering addresses the application of ethics in engineering practices across all the disciples that engineering is concerned with. It ensures that engineering practices are conducted within the required ethical and moral standards required by the society. This paper explores ethics in engineering with specific reference to professional ethics in engineering. The paper explores the need for ethics in engineering to be embraced by the entire profession as opposed to just by individuals. The need for the professionalization of ethical engineering in nuclear engineering is used as an example to illustrate the thesis of the paper. This professional ethical responsibility is examined with reference to safety practices in modern engineering . It is necessary for engineering professionals to embrace and effect as a professional ethical standards to ensure the safety of other people in here practices. There work and the results of the same should not in any way pose a threat to the safety of other people physically, psychologically or emotionally.
Relationship between safety and ethics in engineering
It is a necessary fact for the profession of engineering to institute a standard of protecting the general public. This is a major ethical issue for engineers as most of their work many times directly affects large populations. In this light they have a responsibility to ensure that their creations do not threaten the general public’s safety. The intentional exposure of people to risk by engineering activities is an issue that is ethically wrong. There is therefore a direct connection between safety and ethics in engineering.
For a long time however the issue of ethics in engineering has mainly been left to individuals. It has been left up to individual engineers to take up the responsibility of being ethical in their decision-making concerning projects that affect the public (American Society of Civil Engineers.com ). The problem however has remained that ethical engineering issues have not been treated as a professional concern by the en tire engineering profession. There has continued to be a need for the entire engineering profession to embrace the maintenance of ethics in engineering practice. The embracing of ethical responsibilities by the engineering profession as an entire body would go a long way in preventing potential issues in engineering the would infringe upon certain ethical standards. It would also adopt the responsibility of instituting rules and regulations that would monitor and regulate the way individual engineers run their practices. In this way , it would force even those members of the profession who would otherwise not make ethical decisions to do so. The embracing of ethical responsibility as a professional responsibility would also make it easier to mitigate ethical issues that come up as a result of engineering mistakes or activities ( Bowen,13 ).engineers are faced with ethical dilemmas from the design process of structures and facilities to their operations. It is imperative therefore that they have ways to control theses processes and ensure that ethical standards are maintained and upheld.
This field of engineering has as its object the prevention of accidents. In recent years safety engineering has become a specialty adopted by individuals trained in other branches of engineering. Safety engineers develop methods and procedures to safeguard workers in hazardous occupations. They also assist in designing machinery, factories, ships, and roads, suggesting alterations and improvements to reduce the likelihood of accident. In the design of machinery, for example, the safety engineer seeks to cover all moving parts or keep them from accidental contact with the operator, to put cutoff switches within reach of the operator, and to eliminate dangerous projecting parts. In designing roads the safety engineer seeks to avoid such hazards as sharp turns and blind intersections, known to result in traffic accidents. Many large industrial and construction firms, and insurance companies engaged in the field of workers compensation, today maintain safety engineering departments ( Martin and Schinzinger,34 ).
The lack of a coordinated effort by the profession as a whole to maintain ethical standards in engineering has led to a reduced efficiency in maintaining safety practices in engineering. It hassled to a laxity in the engineering industry that has negatively impacted the lives of many people. This is a failure of upholding of marl and ethical standards.
Ethics in Engineering
A good example of the effect of lack of a professional body ensuring the enforcement can be demonstrated through an examination of ethical issues in nuclear engineering.
Nuclear engineering is concerned with the design and construction of nuclear reactors and devices, and the manner in which nuclear fission may find practical applications, such as the production of commercial power from the energy generated by nuclear reactions and the use of nuclear reactors for propulsion and of nuclear radiation to induce chemical and biological changes. In addition to designing nuclear reactors to yield specified amounts of power, nuclear engineers develop the special materials necessary to withstand the high temperatures and concentrated bombardment of nuclear particles that accompany nuclear fission and fusion. Nuclear engineers also develop methods to shield people from the harmful radiation produced by nuclear reactions and to ensure safe storage and disposal of fissionable materials (Harris,Pritchard and Rabins, 23).
Public concern about the acceptability of nuclear power from fission arises from two basic features of the system. The first is the high level of radioactivity present at various stages of the nuclear cycle, including disposal. The second is the fact that the nuclear fuels uranium-235 and plutonium-239 are the materials from which nuclear weapons are made. The radiological hazards that come with nuclear engineering activities pose a potential risk to the general public. In many countries nuclear engineering is not even allowed as a result of the potential risk (Bowen, 45 ).Engineers who work with nuclear material are also constantly exposed to the danger of radiation from the fissionable material s the deal with. They also constantly pose a risk to their families through direct contact. In recent years large individuals have been exposed to a lot of physical illness that has a direct or indirect result from nuclear engineering activities. The lack of controlled regulations in engineering activities have resulted in nuclear plant failures that have negatives impacted human well being on a large scale. In Hiroshima, the effects of structural malfunctions in nuclear plants resulted in the compromised physical health of three generations . those impacted directly by the radiation of the nuclear material developed pulmonary and cardiovascular complications while subsequent generations have had o bare structural deformities and other physiological malfunctions ( Bowen,46 ).
Since the activities involved in nuclear engineering are pose a potential threat to large numbers of people if mistakes are made, it then becomes an ethical issue whether or not certain activities by nuclear engineers should carry on with their activities given the danger they pose to the public. Ethical and moral responsibility cannot in such sensitive cases be left solely to individuals. It is necessary for the entire professional body to put in place regulations that ensure that the absolute safety of the public is ensured.
The establishment of nuclear engineering power plants has in recent times provided a strong impetus for the establishment of professional codes of ethics in the profession. Nuclear disasters in Asia and the United states during the latter part of the twentieth century has forced the profession to confront shortcomings in their practices in a bid o ensure that human life and well being is no longer compromised or put at risk(Bowen,12). It has had to face all the ethical issue that come with the putting of the general public in danger of nuclear radiation. The establishment of the codes of ethics have then forced nuclear engineers to operate within those codes and has resulted in decreased exposure of people to harmful radiation from nuclear materials. In this way it has been more helpful than would have been individual engineers.
Effects of Lack of Professional Ethical Responsibility
Many other branches of engineering have suffered the effect of lack of professional responsibility on ethical matters. The design of structures for instance is an area where decisions are ethically relevant. This is because the technology used and decisions made present new possibilities and also pose risks to people. Decisions made during design processes shape the possibilities and risks of products. These decisions determine the safety of people. Major historical disasters such as the Quebec bridge collapse , structural failures in buildings and other bid structures such as roads and railways. Some examples of two structures that collapsed due to technical failures as well as design malfunctions include the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, Mars Polar Lander and Mars Climate Orbiter .One o f the most recent technological and ethical failures that led to loss of life is the Columbia space shuttle disaster in 2003.
All these failures have increasingly brought to light the importance of having the professionalization of ethical responsibility in engineering so as to facilitate mitigation strategies.
Solutions
In many countries the need for the professional embracing of ethical responsibility has forced those in the engineering profession to from bodies that govern the same. These bodies in many countries have brought about various changes in the engineering profession, mainly seeking to improve the manner in which ethical consideration is treated. They seek to ensure that they set ethical standards which their members must follow .this has had the effect of regularizing the treatment of ethical decisions . They have also stepped forward to provide direction when it comes to difficult or unclear ethical issues. The formation of professional engineering organizations generally have the role of promoting the safety of the public. They have an obligation to protect the society in which they function. They have been established in almost all branches of engineering and continue to have increasing influence on their members.
The effect of professional engineering organizations in ethical matters.
The embracing of ethical responsibility by the professional engineering as a body has in recent years been having the effect of ensuring that only genuine licensed engineering professionals are allowed in the market. Professional engineering bodies have the responsibility to ensure that only bona fide engineers, fully educated , trained and licensed are allowed to practice and particularly in projects which affect the public. In this way , it makes sure that the quality and integrity of the structures and activities do not negatively affect the public. In the same light the professional bodies ensure that that engineers offer services only in their areas of expertise and licensing. This assures the general population area protected from disasters and losses that result from lack of competence in certain areas.
The embracing of ethical responsibility by the professional bodies of engineers have had the effect of educating their members. Professional bodies disseminate information to members so as to ensure that they are well informed about ethical responsibility in engineering. They educate their members through books, videos and other visual and audio presentations (Layton,14 ).
In Canada some engineering professional bodies require their members to swear oaths to uphold ethics . Reminder rings are given to members so that they can wear them as a constant reminder of that oath.
The United States has created a board for ethical review that reviews cases related to ethical decisions .this board helps to bring clarity to difficult ethical issues in the engineering world. Such organizations also help address the issue of bribery and political corruption where it affect engineering and therefore compromises the standards of engineering (Harris,Prtchard and Rabins,16 ).In a similar light, the professional bodies help ensure that engineers report clients that would seek to put up structures that would pose a risk to others in the community.
Professional bodies also act as forums for engineers to conduct discussions about ethical issues.
Professional engineering organizations have the duty to ensure that engineering activities are conscious of maintaining environmental integrity in the environments which they function. This is because any negative effect n the environment results in an indirect effect on human beings
and other living things supported by that environment.
Conclusion
The role of engineers in their jobs to provide strictures that support modernity is key. In this light, so is their responsibility to ensure the safety of the people for whom the work. It is therefore necessary that they practice ethical decision –making , when it comes to the projects they work one and integral processes of those projects. It is necessary for engineering professionals to embrace and effect as a professional ethical standards to ensure the safety of other people in here practices. They are t o maintain high standards of integrity in every aspect of their work. Professionalization of this ethical responsibility has only helped to strengthen it and will continue to strengthen and uphold ethical decision making in the engineering profession as opposed to leaving it to an individual level.
Reference List
American Society of Civil Engineers. Code of Ethics. Reston, Virginia, USA: ASCE Press.2010.
Retrieved 2011-12-07.
Layton, Edwin . The Revolt of the Engineers: Social Responsibility and the American
Engineering Profession. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.1986.
Martin, Mike and Roland Schinzinger .Ethics in Engineering .New York:McGraw-Hill, 4th edition. 2005.
Harris,Charles, Michael Pritchard and Michael Rabins.Engineerinmg Ethics:Concepts and
Cases.Belmont: Cengage Learning Inc.2009.
Bowen, William R.Engineering Ethics.London:Springer-Verlag.2008.
