Ethical Issues for Engineers Working in a Design Engineering Company - Essay Example

Ethical Issues for Engineers Working in a Design Engineering Company Introduction Sometimes engineers workingin design companies are faced with ethical dilemmas when a conflict of interest arises between the duty of company and duty to conserve and promote the welfare of the community (Christine Van Gorp 92). Engineering ethics is a branch of ethics that deals with the moral principles that should be applied in the engineering profession. Engineering ethics dates back to the onset of the 20th century when major engineering work failures where witnessed like collapsed bridges, Quebec bridge collapse (1907) and Tay Bridge disaster of 1879. In the U.S, the National Society of Professional Engineers offers guidelines on ethics and professional conduct of the engineers. Bribery and corruption are prohibited as well as ethical issues like sustainable development and environmental protection (Baura 13). For instance, the American Society for Civil engineers requires members to observe health and safety and welfare of the society while executing their duties. The society also requires the engineers to reject corruption and bribery and offer services to the best of their competence (Christine Van Gorp 91). In a design company dealing with gas and oil exploration, an engineer may be required to design oil and gas rigs. The engineer will be responsible for developing reservoir simulation codes requiring a lot of computations. The engineer will perform test analysis by applying the principles of physics and mathematics and separation of hydrocarbons (King 33). The engineer may be required to offer advice on hydraulic fracturing systems and offer sufficient advice in the design of the oil and gas rigs (Heidersbach 3). Oil wells and rigs are used to get out from the ground to the surface tankers or pipelines up to the refineries. Oilrigs support structures constructed around the oil wells while the drilling takes place (King 51). The rigs may be on the ground or floating on the sea but are used to drill down to the strata that contain the oil deposits. The pumping system is then used to get the oil to the tankers or the pipelines (Heidersbach 2). The engineer is required to hold paramount health and safety welfare to the public by performing duties only in the areas of competence. The engineer is supposed to conduct himself responsibly and lawfully so as to enhance the reputation of the Company and the engineering profession (Baura 16). If the engineer’s judgment is overruled in cases where it endangers the health and safety of the public, the engineer is supposed to immediately inform the employer or client so that appropriate action may be undertaken. The engineer is supposed to inform the professional body in case of violation of the ethical code of conduct (Baura 16). The engineer is not supposed to make material misrepresentations, omit material facts, or make statements that are geared to deceiving the public on health and safety matters (Gunn and Vesilind 59). According to the ethics code of Institute of Engineers of Ireland, engineers are supposed to promote the principles of sustainable development in order to protect the future generations and the ecosystem (Unesco 184). The members are supposed to ensure the engineering projects have minimal adverse health and safety impact to the environment (Fleddermann 59). The engineer should ensure economical use of the natural resources like water wastage and avoidance of pollution (Unesco 185). The engineer is supposed to promote environmental awareness education among the public in order to promote the welfare of the community by avoiding pollution and natural resource wastage (Unesco 186). Companies in the oil and gas industry may cause adverse effects on the environment. Some of the environmental stressors include noise, fugitive dust, vegetation clearance, drilling waste, accidental oil releases, air pollution, sedimentation, and turbidity from the onshore surface runoff (Harris, Pritchard and Rabins 77). The magnitude of effects on the environment depends on the size of the production site, the location of the project and the mitigating measures against the oil and gas spills. The likelihood of occurrence of adverse effects on the environment will depend on the engineering practices, the infrastructure and project scheduling measures in place (Fleddermann 109). The engineer may prepare partial designs that are confusing thus leading to inaccessibility of the project facility. The engineer may pursue short-term objectives through extravagant use of the natural resources like water, thus the sustainability of the project and wildlife in the environment is compromised. The engineer may not conduct adequate project documentation, thus the likelihood of accidents like oil and gas spillage will be high (Dixon, Robinson and Armstrong 114). The engineer’s work practice on the environment may cause tramping on the wetlands vegetation by the machinery and vehicles during the seismic evaluations. The construction of the access roads and pipelines may lead to fragmentation of the wetlands by the processing facility. Accidental spillage of the oil and gases during the drilling process may lead to poisoning of the wildlife (Fleddermann 186). The wetland vegetation may be adversely affected by changes to surface and sub-surface hydrology from the alteration of the surface runoff. The use of water strays may control dust while covering soil stockpiles with tarps will avoid the soil erosion. Equipment mufflers should be properly maintained to avoid noise pollution to human beings and wildlife (King 66). There are potential positive and negative impacts of the company’s products and services to the society. The oilrigs and wells may spill the oil to the environment. For instance, the Exxon Valdez in 1989 and explosion of oil well in Gulf are some of the social costs of oil and gas industry services to the public (King 167). The spilled oil mixes with the water causing toxic acids that harm the wildlife and marine life as well as the population using the same water sources. Seismic exploration disturbs the marine life while on-surface exploration leads to clearance of vegetation, change of river courses and roads. The increase in the oil production leads to increase in the fossil fuels usage thus increasing the greenhouse emissions leading to rise in the global warming. One of the positive social effects of oil and gas exploration is the increase in employment. Oil wells drilling accounts for more than 70,000 jobs annually. The oil and gas industry contributes to nearly ten percent of the global economic production and output through exploration, drilling and distribution functions in the world economy (King 200). Conclusion Engineers working in design engineering companies should adhere to the code of conduct of their employment and code of ethics. The engineers should also consider the health and safety of the society before their responsibilities to the engineering profession. The engineer in this industry will be in charge of ultra-deep water projects, hence, will be required to make pipeline design calculations and determine the thickness of the rigs. The engineers will conduct pressure testing and bottom stability analysis and simulate the flow of reservoir fluids through tubing. Works cited: Baura, Gail. Engineering ethics: an industrial perspective. London. Elsevier. 2006. Print Christine Van Gorp, Anke. Ethical issues in engineering design: safety and sustainability. London. Routledge. 2005. Print Dixon, Ross., Robinson, Simon and Armstrong, James. The decision makers: ethics of engineers. London. Thomason Learning. 1999. Print Fleddermann, Charles. Engineering ethics. London. Pearson Prentice Hall. 2008. Print Gunn, Alastairs and Vesilind, Aarne. Engineering, ethics and the environment. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1998. Print Harris, Belmont., Pritchard, Michael and Rabins, Michael. Engineering ethics: concepts and cases. Belmont. Cengage Learning. 2008. Print Heidersbach, Robert. Metallurgy and corrosion control in oil and gas production. New York. John Wiley. 2011. Print King, Joe. Exploring engineering. London. Prentice-Hall. 1999. Print Unesco. Engineering: issues, challenges and opportunities for development. Paris. Unesco Publishing. 2010. Print Read More