Engineering Ethics - Essay Example

Encouraging Engineers to Think Autonomously Threatens To Produce Chaos within Organizations During the 19th century when engineering grew as a distinct profession, engineers deemed themselves as independent professional practitioners who acted autonomously. However, this thought was short lived as it brought considerable tension between them and their employers. The employers fought to maintain control in their industries and thus there was need for the development of professional code of conduct for the engineers. At the close of 20th century, this tension had a profound effect on the engineers and thus the engineering profession was forced to come up with codes of ethics that could govern their operations. The codes of ethics created during the 20th century have since been modified and coined to a course called engineering ethics that is taught to all persons aspiring to be engineers at the college level. According to Baura (2006, 6), Engineering ethics is the study of moral issues, values and decision facing persons and organizations engaged in engineering practice. In this context morality entails the first order beliefs and practices that an individual has about good and evil by which he or she guides his or her behavior. Ethics on the other hand is the second order that reflects on our moral beliefs and practices (Baura 2006, 6). As opposed to personal morality, engineering ethics is professional. It is only learned in professional schools and sets the standards for professional practice. As a course it is a very import part of professional education as it exposes the students to the knowledge and skills that they require to deal with issues that they will face in professional practice (Harris 1996, 2). As any other profession engineering is important and what the engineers do has profound effect on others. Therefore, if the subject of professional ethics is how members of the profession should or should not act in the course of their practice of the profession, then engineering ethics is a very vital aspect of engineering itself, just as it is in other professions such as law and medicine. Consequently, the question on whether engineers should be allowed to think and act autonomously is dangerous and poses a lot of threat to the safety of engineers (National Society of Professional Engineers, 2011). With the increasing number of familiar tragedies, disasters and scandals that engineers have been part of, encouraging them to think and act independently will just worsen the current situation and put more lives in danger. Therefore, as a matter of being concerned about the safety of all the participants in the field, it is very essential for engineering ethics to be taught to all persons interested in pursuing the career of engineering. Teaching ethics increases the sensitivity of students towards ethical issues by simply making them aware of the fact that they, as engineers, will have to provide solutions to some ethical problems that will face them in their practice (Harris 1996, 2). Moreover, by exposing the students to a few examples of certain ethical problems, having them identified and explained, will make it more likely than otherwise for the student to solve them when faced with such on the job. For example, a proper explanation on the causes of the Boston Molasses Disaster (1919), Quebec Bridge Collapse (1907), Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster (2003) and the Bhopal Disaster (1984) would adequately enlighten the students on how to deal with such problems when faced with one. Engineering ethics also increases the knowledge of students on relevant standards. It apparently true that those students who read the code of engineering ethics are more likely to have knowledge of what is in it than those who do not (Harris 1996, 2). Also, students who have read the engineering codes of ethics are more likely to answer questions about the code by providing relevant provisions from it than those who have not. And so on. However, the knowledge of standards does not only include knowing what is written in the codes but also understanding the rationale for them especially the consequences of not following them. For example, one of the main reasons for teaching students on why to take operating cost into account when they design something is to point out to them how uneconomical the design is if they do not (Harris 1996, 2). Teaching engineering ethics to students also improves ethical judgment amongst them. However, ethical judgment is not perfected at once. Just as technical judgment, it improves with use. Therefore, a professor of engineering should give students a chance to make ethical judgments, explain them and compare them with those given by other students so as to improve their judgment skills when faced with such experiences (Harris 1996, 2). Moreover, the classroom and the engineering laboratory offer a perfect forum to make both ethical and technical mistakes and learn from them. In addition, engineering ethics increases students’ ethical will-power. Although one might say that the classroom is not the right place for this, I believe it is because an engineer who is aware that he or she shares a standard conduct with other engineers is more likely to adhere to it than the one who believes he or she is alone (Harris 1996, p2). Actually, one of the advantages of discussing ethical issues in the classroom is that it portrays to the students how much agreement there is among engineers on a large number of standards of engineering ethics. Therefore, to maintain an ethical reputation within his or her career, it is very important for an engineer to act in accordance to the engineering code of ethics rather than think and act independently or autonomously. Consequently, since engineering has direct effects on the general public in ways that impact their safety, wellness and health, engineers must hold themselves to a strict code of ethics that govern their operations and work. According to the American Society Of Civil Engineering (2006), the main principles that engineers should work and live by include to hold dominantly the safety, health and welfare of the public, offer services in areas where they are competent, give public statements in objective and truthful manner, act on behalf of their employers or clients as faithful agents, and conduct themselves responsibly, ethically, and in an honorable and lawful manner that enhances the reputation and usefulness of the profession. It is therefore true to say that for there to be a peaceful coexistence in an organization, between the employers or managers and the engineers, then just as the managers are bound by a code of ethics, engineers must also be bound to one. This will ensure that the engineers inform their employers together with their clients and other authorities of any overridden decisions that may have been made to secure the safety of people and property and thus not compromising their integrity. Moreover, as opposed to operating independently, the code of ethics ensures that engineers are responsible for keeping private information of their employers and clients without revealing them to the public unless given permission or required by law to so (National Society of Professional Engineers 2011). None the less without the engineering codes of ethics in an organization, it would be very difficult for the engineers to be held accountable for their actions or mistakes. In fact, it is through the code of ethics that the public can identify an engineer who does not follow it and report him or her to the relevant authority for disciplinary actions (National Society of Professional Engineers 2011). Besides, if engineers were to be allowed to think and act autonomously organizations would lose their reputations and face multiple losses for there would be no one to be held accountable for a mistake done by an engineer within the organization. An engineering world in which each engineer is allowed to think and act autonomously is no only chaotic but also dangerous and unreal. In fact, without the codes of ethics there will be nothing to prevent a chemical engineer to provide services in electrical engineering that he or she knows nothing about or has no competence in. Therefore, to prevent such cases it is important for an organization to ensure that its engineers strictly follow the engineering code of ethics. Generally, it is important for all engineers to be bound by a code of ethics in their operations or practice. With the growing competition among engineers, leaving them to act independently would pose a lot of problems than good. Engineers have become over ambitious, that is, each one of them want to be the best that has ever been or come up with the best designs of vehicles, machines or buildings that have never been built. Consequently, with such level of ambition, most of them have become prone to making mistakes and have put the lives of the public at risks. In spite of the code of ethics governing the operations of engineers most cases have been reported across the globe where buildings and bridges have collapsed killing hundreds because an engineer became over ambitious and failed to strictly adhere to the code of ethics. Therefore, with such level of ambition and mistakes imagine what it would be if they were allowed to think and act autonomously, the world, leave alone the organizations would be chaotic; economies would collapse and people would die until there is none to left to live. References Harris, D. P. (April 1996). Engineering Ethics: What? Why? How? Journal of Engineering Education , 96. Gail D. Baura (2006). Engineering Ethics: An Industrial Perspective. Waltham, Massachusetts: Academic press. National Society of Professional Engineers (2011). Ethics. Retrieved from http://www.nspe.org/ethics/index.html on 24th November, 2011. American Society of Civil Engineers (2006) [1914]. Code of Ethics. Reston, Virginia, USA: ASCE Press. Read More