Engineering Ethics - Essay Example

Engineering Ethics Inserts His/Her Inserts Grade Inserts 6 October EngineeringEthics One of the engineering ethics which governs the interaction of engineers with the society binds the engineers to work for the welfare of the society utilizing their knowledge of engineering in the best possible way (Catalano). Suicide is becoming one of the most disastrous social threats faced by human beings today and thus it is a professional obligation on engineers to find solutions to this ever increasing social evil. This paper is concerned with the answers to the most common questions about engineers’ role in suicide prevention and control. Question 1 Suicides have become a social issue of paramount significance which cannot be ignored in any field of life (Pfatteicher). When engineers design buildings, mechanical equipment or other products, there are always some harmful aspects in addition to the useful ones. As the professional code of ethics puts a professional binding on engineers to work for the welfare of mankind and utilize their knowledge and resources available to them for the development and augmentation of human beings therefore solving the social issues is also one of the various responsibilities of an engineer. Engineers by virtue of their profession are supposed to propose solutions to the problems faced by the society. The impression that suicides is a medical or psychiatric problem about which engineers cannot do anything and thus they are not responsible for the control of suicides, is not correct. The issue of suicides is very much connected to the field of engineering because engineers can modify their designs to control the suicides. Moreover technology can be utilized to prevent suicide in some of the methods of suicide being used. Incorporating suicide prevention devices in the design is one way out of many in which engineers can play a role in preventing suicides. When engineering technology is involved in any procedure of daily life, engineers can certainly step into the situation and play their part. Electric shock, jumping off from high structures and hanging are among the top 10 methods of committing suicides and these methods involve the use of technology, thus modification in the engineering designs and incorporation of suicide prevention devices can help in reducing the number of deaths. The most important issue associated with the inclusion of suicide prevention devices in the various engineering designs is the high cost associated with it, without any financial benefit for the investor. Engineers can play an effective role in this regard by convincing the investors and clients about the importance of the incorporation of suicide prevention devices in the engineering designs. Safety codes and standards should also deal with the suicide prevention devices and there should be a legal binding to incorporate the suicide prevention devices in the engineering designs of various buildings and products. Jumping off from high structures can cause serious problems to the structure of the building as well because when a human body falls off on the deck of some lower floors while falling off from higher floors, the impact load is so high that it can damage the building permanently. In such a situation, suicide prevention devices can be considered as a financially suitable solution because the future cost of repair of the damage caused by the impact load of falling bodies can be much higher than the cost of initially incorporating suicide prevention devices in the buildings. Suicides committed from the deck of bridges can hinder the flow of traffic at times, thus affecting the serviceability of the engineering structure and suicide prevention devices can control this. Suicides committed by falling off from high rise buildings can have traumatizing effects on the inhabitants of a building and people tend to leave such buildings at times. Such a trend can be very dangerous for the engineering clients, who are the owners of the high rise buildings. Therefore including suicide prevention devices can ultimately be a financially feasible solution and results in the improvement of the quality and serviceability of the building. The relationship between suicide prevention and technology has created a role for engineer to play in solving this social problem. Engineers should conduct research in this field to find out the various possible ways to control the number of suicides. Safety and risk assessment of engineering structures is one of the modern areas of research and suicide prevention is also included in safety. Engineers can conduct extensive researches to devise low-cost, sustainable and aesthetically pleasant suicide prevention devices which are effective in preventing suicides as well. It is true that the right to die is a part of human freedom because if a person feels that he has lived the years of his life happily and does not want to drag on, he should be allowed to die. However suicide prevention is not done to save the life of the individual, it is important because of the psychological, social and financial impacts of suicide on other individuals of the society. The people who commit suicide from falling off from a building or through electric shock are very likely to cause damage to the buildings as well and thus put risk to the life of other individuals around them. The psychological effects include traumatizing effects on people who see incidents of committing suicide resulting in mental stress in most of the cases. Therefore suicide prevention is important in order to save the whole society from its harmful aspects. The engineers must commit themselves to comply with the highest ethical and professional conduct by prioritizing the safety of the people temporarily using the bridge, roads, skyscrapers, and other possible suicide venues. The use of technology and knowledge should be done for the welfare of people in every possible way. Question 2 Suicide prevention devices are a very effective way of reducing the number of suicides committed and the statistics support their effectiveness. The installation of suicide prevention barrier on the George Washington Memorial Bridge has finally ended the long streak of suicide incidents occurring at the site. This is one example, the installation of various other suicide prevention devices on bridges, skyscrapers and inside buildings have considerably reduced the number of deaths caused by suicides. Therefore the effectiveness of suicide prevention devices is a well established fact now. The only issue associated with the installation of these suicide prevention devices in buildings is the cost-effectiveness of such devices. According to one report engineers are traditionally justified to prioritize public interest in all their professional endeavors and the installation of suicide prevention devices is one of them. It has been observed that suicide prevention devices have been proved to be a cost-effective solution in the long run because the initial cost of including such devices in a building is very low as compared to the benefits achieved. Moreover, failure to include such devices in buildings can result in significant financial loss in the service life of the building in the form of compensation money, physical loss to the building and indirect financial losses due to the psychological effects of deaths on the inhabitants of the buildings. Suicide incidents have a very bad impact on the inhabitants of a building because seeing people die is not very easy (Lester). Moreover when people fall off from tall buildings, there is always a risk that they may fall on the deck of a lower floor, causing permanent physical damage to the structure of the building because the impact load of falling objects from great heights is very high. The bodies of people attempting suicide can also fall on people walking on the ground making these suicide attempts a threat for the life of the inhabitants of the building (Douglas). Therefore people generally do not prefer to live in such buildings and are marked as highly undesirable to live. In such cases there is an indirect financial loss to the owners of such buildings which can easily be avoided by the inclusion of suicide prevention devices in the buildings. Another important aspect related to the economics of suicide prevention devices is the serviceability of the engineering structure. Suicide attempts greatly affect the serviceability of the buildings because they pose a hindrance to the normal working of the building. Suicide prevention devices can reduce the hindrance caused by the suicide attempts because they prolong the time of the attempt resulting in a change of mindset of the individual in most of the cases. The installation of suicide prevention devices can thus be justified on economic grounds and engineers should convince the clients by telling them the social as well as economic advantages of including such devices in buildings (Petroski). Question 3 In terms or risk management, the engineers must keep in mind that the safety, security, and health of the people using the bridge, road, skyscrapers, and other possible suicide attempt venues is the paramount issue, other risk issues are secondary (Hubberd). The incidents of suicide attempts by falling off from tall structures and high bridges are very common cause of suicide attempt these days and there is a need to resolve this issue because it is not only detrimental for the life of the disturbed people who commit suicide but also for the society as a whole because of the stress associated with the suicide incidents. The preventive measures to stop suicides are very important for the society as a whole and therefore the cost-effectiveness is not to be questioned here. Moreover suicide prevention has been proven to be a very cost-effective technique for improving the quality and serviceability of the buildings. The collective benefit of the whole society lies in the application and installation of suicide prevention devices. The cost of these devices is low as compared to the social and economic advantages associated with them, therefore the use of suicide prevention devices should be encouraged by engineers and accepted by clients. Moreover the safety codes and standards should be modified to incorporate the installation of suicide prevention devices in the designs of buildings and legislation should be done for the implementation of these codes and standards. Suicide prevention is as much a worthwhile thing as any other thing beneficial for society therefore a comparison based on the importance to society is not valid. Suicide prevention is very much essential and must be adopted even if large financial resources have to be spent on it because this spending is beneficial for the whole society. Suicide prevention devices are not only socially beneficial but also have financial benefits in the long run. Moreover engineers are bound to include such devices in the designs following the professional code of ethics for the engineers. Works Cited Catalano, George. Engineering ethics: peace, justice, and the earth. N.p.: Morgan and Claypool Publishers, 2006. Print. Douglas, George. Skyscrapers: A Social History of the Very Tall Building in America. N.p.: McFarland, 2004. Print. Hubberd, Douglas. The Failure of Risk Management. New York: John Wiley Hardcover, 2009. Print. Lester, David. Suicide prevention: resources for the millennium. N.p.: Psychological Press, 2001. Print. Petroski, Henry. The Essential Engineer. New York: Vintage Paperback, 2010. Print. Pfatteicher, Sarah. Lessons Amid the Rubble. Baltimore: John Hopkins, 2010. Print. Read More