After the talk, I realized that one of the toughest problem to deal with is how to
balance out between efficiency and engineering ethics. Such projects involve but not
limited to infrastructures, gasification, refinery, chemical plants and power station.
Take power station as an example, power generation efficiency versus ethical issues.
CO2 emission to the atmosphere, contaminated water which was used in cooling
during the generation process are just two typical examples of disposed waste to the
environment, which are commonly being treated as burdens to a company, entitled
as waste managements. But through this useful lecture, I have learnt that there are
more on ethical aspects in a project. One of the outstanding problem is safety,
including safety culture, where trainings, awareness and alertness of the employees
belongs to, basic safety practice, audit and taking ownership also plays a major role.
The above-mentioned parts only include factor of human factor, there are still
several factors that we need to process through during a project. Safety during the
operation is carried out through design and safety review, alarms and interlocks etc.
While management of change, lock and tag, entry permits are included in security of
the venue where the project is carried out. In fact, there are much more aspects
should be gone through in building and operating, without overlooking the ethical
issues. My horizon has been broadened a lot after this meaningful lecture, especially
when its conducted by an authority.