Introduction to
Engineering Ethics
Why Learn Engineering Ethics?
BS in Mechanical
Engineering
Technical Education
Workplace
Dilemmas
2
Technical
Choices
Ethics &
Morality
Preparation
Personal
Conflicts
Define Ethics, Engineering
Ethics, & Morality
 Morals: Right vs. Wrong / Good vs.
Bad
 Ethics: Activity of understanding
moral values
o Resolution of moral issues
 Engineering Ethics: Incorporating
moral values considering all issues
involved
o Frequently no easy answer
3
An Engineer’s Responsibilities
Family,
Upbringing,
Personal
Values &
Ethics
Firm:
Engineers,
Managers,
Colleagues
Industry, Other
Firms
Global Environment,
Society, & Nature
Engineering
Profession
Law, Government,
Public Agencies
Clients or
Consumers
4
Engineering: Managing the Unknown
 Consistently lack knowledge about problems and designs
 Engineering Design = creating NEW products and
processes
 Questions Questions Questions
 How will it be used?
 How well does it work?
 How well does it need to work?
 Will it affect people? In a beneficial way?
 Can it be misused? What happens if it breaks?
 Is it safe? Do we have to deal with all safety concerns?
 You will never be absolutely certain as an engineer.
Rather, you must be as prepared as possible when limited
by time, resources, and funding.
 You must see into the future and understand the
consequences of your work
5
We Each Bring Something Different
to the Table
Objectivity
People
Skills
History
Emotion
Culture
Background
Upbringing
Expertise
Experience
Problem
Solving
Skills
6
Consider One Example:
The Hanford Green Run
o Late 1940’s – Hanford Site Center of
Plutonium Production
o Iodine 131 – Byproduct of Plutonium
Production
o Air Force needed to test viability of new
radiation monitoring system
o Dec 2nd & 3rd 1949 “The Green Run”
o Not disclosed until 1986
From a George Washington University Analysis
(http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/radiation/dir/mstreet/commeet/meet8/b
rief8/tab_h/br8h7.txt)
… In the Green Run, the value of national security seems to have trumped
other ethical concerns. In addition, if today's environmental regulations were
in place in 1949 they could have been circumvented by the executive branch.
We can ask whether the Green Run should have happened, but perhaps more
importantly, we should ask whether current regulations provide sufficient
protection against analogous cases in the future
7
Professional Codes of
Ethics
8
What Defines a Professional?
 Advanced Expertise – skills and knowledge
 Formal Education – not just practical training
and/or apprenticeship
 Self-Regulation – setting standards, drafting codes
of ethics, enforcing these
 Representing Profession before the public and
government
 Public Good – occupation serves some aspect of
public good.
Consider how this defines Mechanical Engineering
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A fundamental
requirement is for
engineers to provide
faithful, honest,
professional service
10
Codes of Ethics
 Guide conduct and decision making of engineers
 Similar between societies
 What’s a society? Check out the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Your Turn:
Professional
Codes PowerPoint
11
National Society of Professional
Engineers
Engineers' Creed
As a Professional Engineer, I dedicate my professional knowledge
and skill to the advancement and betterment of human welfare.
I pledge:
 To give the utmost of performance;
 To participate in none but honest enterprise;
 To live and work according to the laws of man and the highest
standards of professional conduct;
 To place service before profit, the honor and standing of the
profession before personal advantage, and the public welfare
above all other considerations.
In humility and with need for Divine Guidance, I make this pledge.
Adopted by National Society of Professional Engineers, June 1954
Source: http://www.nspe.org/Ethics/CodeofEthics/Creed/creed.html
12
Risk & Liability in
Engineering
Source: www.readin.com
On September 11, 2001, terrorists attacked the Twin Towers by
flying two hijacked 727’s into them. Each jet impacted
approximately 2/3 of the way up.
The resulting fire, fueled by high-octane aviation gas, isolated
more than 2000 workers in the floors above the impact. Only 18
of these workers made it to safety, while in contrast almost all of
the workers in the floors below escaped.
In the hour following the crashes, the intense heat (above
1000F) caused the steel floor beams in each tower to sag. The
floor structures broke away from the external vertical loadbearing beams. As the floors fell, they created loads the lower
floors could not support. As a result, the towers collapsed.
Question 1
Question 2
How could
this structural Why did
failure
building
happened?
codes not
better protect
the public?
Question 3
How can we
prevent such
a disaster in
the future?
What about acceptable risk and our
approach to that risk as engineers?
The Engineer’s Approach to Risk
To assess a risk – an engineer
must first identify it
To identify a risk – an engineer
must first understand the risk
What constitutes a risk to an
engineer?
Consider Definitions
 Risk = compound measure of the probability
and magnitude of adverse affect
 Product of the likelihood and the magnitude of
harm
 Harm = limitation or impairment of a person’s
freedom or well-being
 Public Perception
 Public rarely has all the facts
 Many priorities set by a public more concerned
with perceived risks than actual risks due to lack
of knowledge
 Acceptable Risk: probability and magnitude of
harm  probability and magnitude of benefit
 This is where the engineer must apply capable
judgment
Consider a Disaster
Immediately
apparent
consequences
Broader, more
indirect harms to
society
What about connections
between specific harms
and losses, such as
personal property or
reduction in quality of
life?
Need for accurate, uniform,
consistent metrics to evaluate
hazards
Opportunities
for learning
after a
disaster
How Does the Engineer Approach
Risk and Safe Design?
 As a minimum, design MUST comply with applicable
laws
 Design must meet standards of current engineering
practice
 Must explore potentially safer designs
 ALWAYS compare
 ALWAYS seek alternatives
 Engineer must attempt to foresee potential misuses of
design
 Design for these misuses
 Realize the ramifications of misuses
Public Perception of Risk
 Perception of real risk frequently varies
between those that know facts (engineers)
and those that do not know facts (public)
 Public frequently drastically underestimates
risk
 Sometimes leads to misunderstanding of need
for safe and secure engineering design
 We must respect individuals right to choose
and decide:
Acceptable risk =
1. Risk assumed by free and informed consent
2. Risk is justly distributed or properly compensated
Communicating Risk – an Engineer’s
Responsibility
Be clear – risk  probability of harm
Be careful saying there is no such thing as zero risk – not
easily understood
Be aware public does not always trust experts –
acknowledge limitations
Government has obligation to protect public. It is not
always about cost-benefit approach
Be objective and listen to all sides
Consider the Space Shuttle
Challenger
"The future is not free: the story of all
human progress is one of a struggle
against all odds. We learned again that
this America, which Abraham Lincoln
called the last, best hope of man on Earth,
was built on heroism and noble sacrifice.
It was built by men and women like our
seven star voyagers, who answered a call
beyond duty, who gave more than was
expected or required and who gave it
little thought of worldly reward."
- President Ronald Reagan
January 31, 1986
CNN Video
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How Do We Evaluate Risk?
One Method – Fault Tree
 Objective, systematic way to account for and
evaluate types and probabilities of risk
 Typically termed ‘Risk Assessment’
 Begin with the undesirable event (such as a car
not starting)
 Reason BACK to events that might have caused
this undesirable occurrence
 Anticipate hazards – especially those for which
there is little or no direct experience
 Systematically analyze failure modes
Source: sixsigma.knowledgehills.com