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Engineering Ethics: An Industrial Perspective

This book begins with a general introduction to engineering ethics from the perspective of an engineer who currently works in industry. The book is divided into three sections. Part one comprises two chapters and is entitled ‘An ethics foundation.’ The initial chapter focus is on providing a definition of engineering ethics with a brief outline of the various ethical theories – utilitarianism, duty ethics, rights ethics, and virtue ethics. The various codes of ethics for professional engineers and their effectiveness are then considered, alongside issues associated with professional responsibility – protection of public safety, technical competence and timely communication of both negative and positive results to management. The intention is to allow the reader to develop the full framework needed for making ethical decisions within the context of their working lives. Consideration is then given to the types of ethical dilemma that may be encountered by practising engineers – public safety and welfare, data integrity and representation, trade secrets and industrial espionage, gift giving and bribery, the principle of informed consent, conflicts of interest, accountability to clients and customers, and fair treatment. These are all dealt with in a summarily manner, but none the less are important to highlight in the context of determining a personal engineering ethics threshold for action. The first chapter concludes with a number of questions that serve to remind the reader of the generic definitions and issues involved with engineering ethics and provide a basis for further discussion. The second chapter in this section moves on to consider the options for action when an engineering ethics threshold has been reached – fighting for change or leaving the company. In this context, personal conscience, protection legislation and protection procedures for both the employee and the observer are considered. At each stage examples are provided to illustrate the dilemmas that may be faced and the difficult decisions that have to be made. The chapter concludes on an optimistic note that not all corporations are corrupt, some are shining examples of social responsibility. Part two of the book is entitled ‘National case studies’ and comprises thirteen chapters each of which describe in detail an individual engineering ethics case study where the employee has warned his superiors of a potentially dangerous situation but has been ignored with, in many cases, unfortunate consequences. Each of the case studies is presented in a standard format that starts with a newspaper report of the story followed by the full back story. The applicable regulations are then summarized before an engineering perspective is presented, followed by appropriate references for further reading and questions for discussion. The topic areas are wide ranging, encompassing many different industries and specialist areas of engineering including automotive, medical, building, computer, and electrical. The case studies themselves encompass the space shuttle disasters, failure of medical devices, oil spills, collapse of bridges, through to the recent Indian Ocean tsunami. As such there is something for everyone, making it a broad-based text that could be used in a host of engineering disciplines. Part three of the book is the final chapter that relates the personal experiences of ten engineers who volunteered accounts of their personal experience of ethical dilemmas they have encountered in their working environments. These range from medical through electrical, geological, mechanical, and computer engineering. The book would be suitable as an introduction to the subject of engineering ethics for all branches of engineering students, both undergraduate and postgraduate. It does not purport to provide solutions, but more serves to raise awareness of the issues that engineers could face in industry. The book