Engineering Innovation and Ethics - Report Example

Engineering Innovation and Ethics Name of Student Institution Affiliation Engineering Innovation and Ethics Report Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 4 The Essence of Intellectual Property Provision for Engineers 4 Engineering Issues 5 Industrial Accidents: 5 Types of Industrial Accidents 5 The safety aspects of prediction and prevention of accidents 6 Unavoidable Accidents and what Engineers ought to so as to learn from past accidents. 7 Unions and Management: 7 Ethical responsibility and administration capabilities 7 The relationships between the engineer and his employees 7 Challenges and obstacles to Unions 8 Ownership of Intellectual Property 8 Copyright 8 Trademarks 9 Electromagnetic Radiation 9 The dangers of electronic radiation 9 Culture Differences 9 Ethics & Morality: 10 Workplace Ethical Behavior 10 Ergonomics: The principal Metrics of the Field of Engineering 10 Modern management practices 11 Engineering Ethics 11 Environmental Issues 12 Role of an Engineer in Protection of the Environment 12 Occupational Safety and Health Procedures 12 References 13 Introduction This report has the principal objective of introducing the role and aspects of Engineering Innovation and Ethics in contemporary industrial processes, workplace industrial innovation, alongside innovative advancements’ management. Industrial tasks’ implementation and maintenance have a positive impact on engineering skills. Ideally, innovation is one of the most essential components of engineering entrepreneurship considering that product consumers’ demand has consistently changed engineering works. For example, Customers’ requirements act as the driving force of evolution of mobile devices (Leibowitz & Latman). This report will also explore the effect of such technological, legal ethics as copyrights and patents normally used in the governance of technological innovations’ distribution. In addition, the report will mention the professional responsibilities of such engineering areas as workplace conflict, health, and impact of engineering procedures on the environment. Contribution to the report is inclusive of findings by various scholars as gathered from different reference materials. The Essence of Intellectual Property Provision for Engineers Rights of intellectual property are of much essence for engineers in the course of provision of regulations and rules regarding their integrity and work. The rules are essential in the protection of business and maintenance of innovations. These rules also enhance engineering ideas alongside helping companies and individuals to make the best out of their work. The Intellectual Property Provisions are characteristic of avoiding piracy, counterfeit, and theft that have continuously caused an immense deal f risk to business. Ideally, local companies have been faced by cheap products from international companies; thus unhealthy competition. These regulation, therefore, have the role of avoiding breach of legal aspects, safety, and health of supply chains. Engineering Issues Industrial Accidents: Nowadays, there are various types of accidents that can occur in the modern industries. The diverse industries have unique challenges. The fact that accidents may occur anytime instigates the need for safety in the workplace and every individual has the duty to protect him or herself in the workplace. Types of Industrial Accidents Construction accidents These are the most dangerous types of accidents, and most reported injuries originate from the building industry. There are more than 6 million people employed in the construction sector, and this number puts a lot of people at risk. (Alice, 2009). The main types of construction accidents include falls, scaffolding and machinery faults. Chemical plant accidents Factories mainly use combustible chemicals that can catch fire quite quickly. These are byproducts of the chemical process in the plants and are very hazardous. The materials include paints, dust, fuels, fumes and solvent mixtures. Exposure to the materials can cause respiratory problems, skin problems or even death. Industrial plant accidents Industrial facilities such as fertilizer factories have experienced massive explosions that have caused a number of fatalities. The plants have dangerous chemicals that are very hazardous if safety measures are not considered. Mining accidents Mining has the most dangerous working conditions because they present the miners with the dangers of cave collapse and rocks surrounding them. An explosion can prove to be dangerous. The explosion can further worsen the situation is further compounded by the inability to breathe freely due to inadequate ventilation. The air inside the mines can become toxic leading to severe health conditions such as lung cancer. The miners are advised to wear breathing masks and protective gear as they work. The safety aspects of prediction and prevention of accidents There are many ways of implementing preventive measures that can be designed to ensure that employees are well protected and safe as they carry on with their day to day activities. Identification of the plant processes that may produce chemicals and dangerous by-products. Monitoring of the air ventilation and introduce proper equipment that remove the toxic air. Give the employees protective work gear Design safety drills and measures that are followed when working in dangerous environment. Unavoidable Accidents and what Engineers ought to so as to learn from past accidents. Some accidents are unavoidable and can occur when least expected. (Michael, 1999). Unpreventable accidents include leaks of toxic gasses, methane explosions, stone collapse, rock bursts and fire. In order to learn from unpreventable accidents and disasters, engineers can put in place procedures to ensure safety of the workers. Engineering organizations have safety drills from time to time to avoid future accidents. Unions and Management: Ethical responsibility and administration capabilities The moral liability and administration skills apply rules and regulations that must be followed in order to have a harmonious relationship. In this regard, Engineers have ethical obligations that are designed within the company to ensure that the right thing is done at the workplace. (Ellison, 2008). Management capability enables the regulations to be implemented in a top-down manner and accord responsibility for their actions. The relationships between the engineer and his employees Engineers and employees, society, and customers have ethical responsibilities as a whole. For instance, it is important for the engineer to be honest with his employees so that they can make informed choices. The decisions have an impact on their quality of work output and their safety. When the work is hard, it is sometimes difficult to adhere to ethical responsibilities. The well being of the company relies on responsibilities and outstanding ties between the engineer and his/her employees. Challenges and obstacles to Unions Ethical missteps can destroy the reputation of a whole company. According to Ronald R. Sims, the biggest institutions can be destroyed by a single person within the enterprise. For instance, violations of safety regulation can lead to a dangerous explosion in a chemical company. Such violations can result in law charges, loss of confidence by the customers and employee mistrust. Unions do not have the mandate to install rules and regulation in industries. The situation is worsened by the failure to enforce an explicit code of ethical behavior in the factory. Ownership of Intellectual Property Intellectual property rights and their ethical issues. Any innovation design should be patented under the copyright policy. The regulation ensures that there is no copying of an individual's design. The Intellectual property, copyright and trademarks will be considered when buying or selling a new product. For instance, the IEEE for engineering standards stipulates the mode of design keeping in mind the safety of the innovation. (Markillison, 2007). The distinctions between legal and ethical infringements are specified in the intellectual property rights issued. Legal violations include the direct copying of an idea that has already been patented, whereas moral breaches involve the mistrust and dishonesty of the patented product. Both cases can be brought before the law as illegal dealings. Copyright Copyright rules and regulations denoted as ®, are enacted to ensure the originality of the product and set guidelines for making of similar engineering products. Copyright rules ensure that an innovation is clearly original and is not counterfeit. Essentially, a copyrighted product provides that the work and design are not copied from an initial product. Trademarks Trademarks are used to ensure that a brand name is original. Product names are important as they sell the commodity due to loyalty of the customers. A trademark is denoted by the symbol ™, and it shows the originality of the product name and it is a brand that the customers trust. Ethical responsibility is necessary on trademarked products as the consumers rely on the brand name to provide quality. Electromagnetic Radiation This is a form of radiant energy released by the process of electromagnetism. Most plants use electromagnets to lift heavy cargo and deposit it in desired areas. X-rays and radioactivity can release other forms of electromagnetic radiation. The electromagnetic radiation is produced when charged particles are bombarded and accelerated. The dangers of electronic radiation Although electromagnetic radiation (EMR) has benefits to humans for medication purposes, such as X-rays, it poses risks when high-frequency radiation is always exposed to humans. EMR can cause skin cancer and even harm human tissue. The WHO organization has stipulated the safe amount of radiation that has no safety issues to persons. Radiation at high energy levels can even cause death. Most processes in plants produce electromagnetic radiation that is considered quite dangerous. Culture Differences The relationships and challenges of cross-cultural communities at the workplace Intercultural communities at the workplace provide a ground for healthy relationships due to the diverse cultures introduced into the work environment. However, the different cultures present a challenge in communication due to the many languages that need to be interpreted. This fact may pose an imminent risk to the employees and the engineers during the design of the product. A single error in the production process may lead to hazardous effects such as toxic leaks, rock collapse, explosions or fires. The plant management should introduce strategic measures to prevent the challenges of the cross-cultural communities at the workplace. Ethics & Morality: Workplace Ethical Behavior The standards of ethics are maintained in an industry by setting clear moral regulations from the start. Essentially, a code of conduct is installed within the engineers and his workers to ensure that the relationship between them is fair. In order to avoid the unethical behavior among the employees, there must be trust and transparency in the day to day activities. The standards associated with ethical issues are inclusive of integrity alongside honesty. Ergonomics: The principal Metrics of the Field of Engineering Bulk production The metric is a measure of the maximum output of the industry. It is used to gauge the amount of production that is processed by the industry. Efficiency Efficiency is a measure of the maximum output divided by the maximum input represented as a percentage. This metric shows the optimum level in which the company should operate in order to gain maximum benefit. This parameter is quite necessary to display the state of an industry since a less efficient output could lead to the failure of the plant. Modern management practices Nowadays, management of operational activities is geared to increase the output of the industry. The strategic management is divided into management team and executive staff. The top-down design of the company allows for the instructions and procedures to be streamlined and trickle down to the administrative personnel and workers. This is important to ensure a good working relationship and process that helps to attain the goals, economic profits and operational safety of the plant. Engineering Ethics These refer to moral systems of principles applied in the field of engineering. In other words, engineering ethics can be termed as obligations that ought to be observed by all engineers. For instance, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (abbreviated as AIEE), has the responsibility of providing protocols and standards that govern the industry’s innovations. The codes and patents are characteristic of defining ethical laws for the provision of jurisdictions that are applied to engineering innovations, upon their interpretation (Gorgon, 2005). The IEEE has a reputation of submitting ethical and professional engineering regulations of the highest level. The society plays a critical role in ensuring that engineering designs are safe, healthy, and environmental friendly. Environmental Issues These refer to engineering innovations’ consequences that have negative impact on the environment. The field of engineering is characteristic of ethical, advocacy social groups whose role is centered in biophysical environment protection, the several innovations associated with contemporary engineering. Ideally, the various innovations associated with the field of engineering ought to be consistent with policies and rules put in place by the various ethical groups. Harmful consequences’ prevention has the objective of addressing such issues of the environment as global warming. Role of an Engineer in Protection of the Environment It is a required that al engineers be registered with the ethical groups that have of the responsibility of providing standards to govern safety and environmental health of technological designs. The practices of individual engineers ought to be consistent with the regulations and rules, set for the profession of engineering, in order to uphold the safety of the environment. Occupational Safety and Health Procedures The refer to standards governing the procedures that ought to be put in practice on a daily basis in order to maintain a clean environment in the course or producing engineering tasks and designing innovations associated with the field of engineering. These standards have been documented as part of the legal aspects of the field of engineering. References Leibowitz J. & Latman O. (2003). The Intellectual Property Provisions: Report of the Industrial Functional Intellectual Property Rights for Trade Policy Matters, Oxford, Cambridge University Press. Alice, G. (2009). The Major Causes of Industrial Accidents, Cambridge University Press. Michael. H. (1999). The Reduction of Accidents in Industries, Harvard University Press. Ellison, J. (2008). The key metrics of the engineering profession, Cambridge University Press. Gorgon M. (2005). The relationships and challenges of cross-cultural communities, Cambridge University Press. Markillison, T. (2007). Copyright Rules and Regulations, Intellectual property rights and their ethical issues, Cambridge University Press. Read More

Types of Industrial Accidents Construction accidents These are the most dangerous types of accidents, and most reported injuries originate from the building industry. There are more than 6 million people employed in the construction sector, and this number puts a lot of people at risk. (Alice, 2009). The main types of construction accidents include falls, scaffolding and machinery faults. Chemical plant accidents Factories mainly use combustible chemicals that can catch fire quite quickly. These are byproducts of the chemical process in the plants and are very hazardous.

The materials include paints, dust, fuels, fumes and solvent mixtures. Exposure to the materials can cause respiratory problems, skin problems or even death. Industrial plant accidents Industrial facilities such as fertilizer factories have experienced massive explosions that have caused a number of fatalities. The plants have dangerous chemicals that are very hazardous if safety measures are not considered. Mining accidents Mining has the most dangerous working conditions because they present the miners with the dangers of cave collapse and rocks surrounding them.

An explosion can prove to be dangerous. The explosion can further worsen the situation is further compounded by the inability to breathe freely due to inadequate ventilation. The air inside the mines can become toxic leading to severe health conditions such as lung cancer. The miners are advised to wear breathing masks and protective gear as they work. The safety aspects of prediction and prevention of accidents There are many ways of implementing preventive measures that can be designed to ensure that employees are well protected and safe as they carry on with their day to day activities.

Identification of the plant processes that may produce chemicals and dangerous by-products. Monitoring of the air ventilation and introduce proper equipment that remove the toxic air. Give the employees protective work gear Design safety drills and measures that are followed when working in dangerous environment. Unavoidable Accidents and what Engineers ought to so as to learn from past accidents. Some accidents are unavoidable and can occur when least expected. (Michael, 1999). Unpreventable accidents include leaks of toxic gasses, methane explosions, stone collapse, rock bursts and fire.

In order to learn from unpreventable accidents and disasters, engineers can put in place procedures to ensure safety of the workers. Engineering organizations have safety drills from time to time to avoid future accidents. Unions and Management: Ethical responsibility and administration capabilities The moral liability and administration skills apply rules and regulations that must be followed in order to have a harmonious relationship. In this regard, Engineers have ethical obligations that are designed within the company to ensure that the right thing is done at the workplace.

(Ellison, 2008). Management capability enables the regulations to be implemented in a top-down manner and accord responsibility for their actions. The relationships between the engineer and his employees Engineers and employees, society, and customers have ethical responsibilities as a whole. For instance, it is important for the engineer to be honest with his employees so that they can make informed choices. The decisions have an impact on their quality of work output and their safety. When the work is hard, it is sometimes difficult to adhere to ethical responsibilities.

The well being of the company relies on responsibilities and outstanding ties between the engineer and his/her employees. Challenges and obstacles to Unions Ethical missteps can destroy the reputation of a whole company. According to Ronald R. Sims, the biggest institutions can be destroyed by a single person within the enterprise. For instance, violations of safety regulation can lead to a dangerous explosion in a chemical company. Such violations can result in law charges, loss of confidence by the customers and employee mistrust.

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