Engineering Ethics

Engineering ethics is the field of applied ethics which examines and sets standards for engineer’s obligations to the public, their clients, employers and the profession. This essay addresses the subject for both professional engineers and other engineers.

Engineering does not have a single uniform system, or standard, of ethical conduct across the entire profession. Ethical approaches vary somewhat by discipline and jurisdiction, but are most influenced by whether the engineers are independently providing professional services to clients or the public if employed in governmental services; or if they are employees of an enterprise creating products for sale.

In the United States the first are usually licensed Professional engineers, are governed by statute, and have fairly consistent codes of professional ethics. The latter, working as engineers in industry, are governed by various laws including whistleblowing, and product liability laws, and often rely on principles of business ethics rather than engineering ethics.

Professional and Chartered Engineers:

Professional engineers (Chartered engineers in the United Kingdom.) are distinct from other engineers in that they have obtained some form of license, charter, or registration from a government agency or charter-granting authority acting on their behalf. As such they are subject to regulation by these bodies, as are other regulated professions.

Professional and Chartered engineers enjoy significant influence over their regulation. They are often the authors of the pertinent codes of ethics used by some of these organizations. These engineers in private practice often, but not always, find themselves in traditional professional-client relationships in their practice. Engineers employed in government service find themselves on the other side of the same relationship.

Engineers in industry, sometimes termed “graduate engineers” in the US if they hold a Bachelor’s Degree, are not formally accredited by government agencies. Their professional relationships much more likely to be employee-employer relationship.

Despite the different focus, engineers in industry or private practice face similar ethical issues and reach similar conclusions. One American engineering society, the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) has sought to extend professional licensure and a code of ethics across the field regardless of practice area or employment sector.

Current Codes of Ethics:

Many American engineering professional societies have prepared codes of ethics. Some go back to the early decades of the twentieth century. These have been incorporated to a greater or lesser degree into the regulatory laws of most states.

The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) in the UK has a code of ethics incorporated into its standards of conduct. The Canadian societies of Professional engineers likewise have as well. These codes of ethics share many similarities.

General Principles:

Codes of engineering ethics identify a specific precedence with respect to the engineer’s consideration for the public, clients, employers, and the profession.

This is an example from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE):

“Fundamental Canons

1. Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public and shall strive to comply with the principles of sustainable development in the performance of their professional ethics.

2. Engineers shall perform services only in areas of their competence.

3. Engineers shall issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner.

4. Engineers shall act in professional matters for each employer or client as faithful agents or trustees and shall avoid conflicts of interest.

5. Engineers shall build their professional reputation on the merit of their services and shall not compete unfairly with others.

6. Engineers shall act in such a manner as to uphold and enhance the honor, integrity, and dignity of the engineering profession and shall act with zero-tolerance for bribery, fraud, and corruption.

7. Engineers shall continue their professional development throughout their careers, and shall provide opportunities for the professional development of those engineers under their supervision.”

Like virtually all professional societies and chartering authorities, ASCE expends upon these and publishes specific guidance.

First Principle:

As noted above, generally the first duty recognized by Professional and Chartered engineers is to the safety of the public.

The ICE’s “Code of Professional Conduct” identifies similar ethical values as the ASCE’s but likewise places the good of the public as the highest ethic.

“Members of the ICE should always be aware of their override responsibility to the public good. A member’s obligations to the client can never override this, and members of the ICE should not enter undertakings which compromise this responsibility. The ‘public good’ encompasses care and respect for the environment, and for humanity’s cultural, historical and archaeological heritage, as well as the primary responsibility members have to protect the health and well being of present and future generations.”

Canadian engineering codes of ethics also place the public good above all other concerns:

· Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO): “A practitioner shall, regard the practitioner’s duty to public welfare as paramount.”

· L’Ordre des Ingenieure du Quebec (QIQ): “In all aspects of his work, the engineer must respect his obligations towards man and take into account the consequences of the performance of his work on the environment and on the life, health and property of every person.”

As in ASCE’s Fundamental Canon 1, other American professional societies are likewise specific on this point:

· National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE): “Engineers, in the fulfillment of their professional duties, shall: Hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public.”

· American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME): “Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public in the performance of their professional duties.”

· Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE): “We, the members of the IEEE,... do hereby commit ourselves to the highest ethical and professional conduct and agree: 1. to accept responsibility in making decisions consistent with the safety, health and welfare of the public, and to disclose promptly factors that might endanger the public or the environment;”

· American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE): “To achieve these goals, members shall hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public and protect the environment in performance of their professional duties.”

Whistleblowing:

A basic ethical dilemma is that an engineer has the duty to report to the appropriate authority a possible risk to others from a client or employer failing to follow the engineer’s directions. According to first principles, this duty overrides the duty to a client and/or employer. An engineer may be disciplined, or have their license revoked, even if the failure to report such a danger does not result in the loss of life or health.

In many cases, this duty can be discharged by advising the client of the consequences in a forthright matter, and assuring the client takes the engineer’s advice. However, the engineer must ensure that the remedial steps are taken and, if they are not, the situation must be reported to the appropriate authority. In very rare cases, where even a governmental authority may not take appropriate action, the engineer can only discharge the duty by making the situation public. As a result, whistleblowing by professional engineers is not an unusual event, and courts have often sided with engineers in such cases, overruling duties to employers and confidentiality considerations that otherwise would have prevented the engineer from speaking out.

Other Ethical Issues:

There are several other ethical issues that engineers may face. Some have to do with technical practice, but many others have to do with broader considerations of business conduct. These include:

• Quality
• Ensuring legal compliance
• Conflict of interest
• Bribery and kickbacks
• Treatment of confidential or proprietary information
• Consideration of the employer’s assets
• Relationships with clients, consultants, competitors and contractors
• Gifts, meals, services and entertainment
• Outside employment/activities (Moonlighting)

Some engineering societies are addressing environmental protection as a stand-alone question of ethics. The field of business ethics often overlaps and informs ethical decision making for engineers.

References:

· American Society of Civil Engineers [1914] (2006). Codes of Ethics. Reston, Virginia, USA: ASCE Press. Retrieved on 2006-10-20.

· American Society of Civil Engineers (2000). Standards of Professional Conduct. Reston, Virginia, USA: ASCE Press. Retrieved on 2006-10-20.

· Institution of Civil Engineers (2004). Royal Charter, by-laws, Regulations and Rules. Retrieved on 2006-10-20.

· Layton, Edwin (1986). The Revolt of the Engineers: Social Responsibility and the American Engineering Profession. Baltimore, Maryland, USA: The johns Hopkins University Press.

· Petroski, Henry (1985). To Engineer is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design. St Martins Press.