Chapter 1 – Introduction** Engineers need Ethical codes to know what to do in complicated situations.

>> Most Ethical issues happen due to “lack of knowledge”, because our work as engineers forces us to deal with many “unknowns” especially when making a new design.

** We have to make a distinction between “personal” and “professional/business” ethics, there isn’t a clear boundary between the two, but personal ethics deals with how we treat people in our daily lives, while professional ethics more often deals with more applicable ethical situations where we deal with corporations or a group of individuals.

>> Ethical thought goes back to the Greeks, followed by the Western world. Even though some people connect it to Religious beliefs but that’s not true to everyone because even an engineer who doesn’t believe in God has to follow the codes of ethics in his job.

** There is a huge difference between what is “LEGAL” and what is “ETHICAL”, some actions are allowed by the law but aren’t ethically acceptable while other actions are illegal but ethically okay. As an engineer you follow the Ethical Codes to solve a conflict but there is no legal guidance to solve it.

>> Ethical problems rarely have a correct answer, but the process of getting to the most accurate answer is very similar to that of an Engineering-design.

*Cases in this chapter:

1- The Ford-Pinto case (page.1)2- The “Challenger” and “Colombia” space shuttle accidents

(pages.6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14)__________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 2 – Professionalism and Codes of Ethics

** When facing an Ethical issue you use the Codes of Ethics written by various professional societies to solve this issue.

>> Engineering can be considered a:

*Job and occupation, because an Engineer is paid for his work.

*Profession, because:

1- It requires sophisticated skills.2- It requires the use of [judgment]. 3- It requires the exercise of [discretion].

4- It’s not a routine work and it cannot be mechanized (done by machines).5- Membership in the profession requires high formal education and not only

practical training.6- It has special societies or organizations that are allowed by the public to set

standards for admission to the profession.

Engineering-meaning:

Normal-meaning:

JUDGMENT Making a significant decision based on formal education, training, and experience.

Making normal life decisions like a secretary’s job to decide what work to do first or what paper to pass on to her boss.

DESCRETION Both require keeping information confidential, the difference is in the type of information kept private, in Engineering it’s always a highly significant thing while in other “jobs” it may simply be the age or sex of a client.

Engineering Medicine Law Carpentry Athletics

*Education: High - formal High - formal High - formal

Not needed Not needed

*Requires sophisticated

skills:

Yes Yes Yes Yes No

*Training: Formal and practical

Formal and Practical

Formal and Practical

Only Practical

Only Practical

*Special societies:

Unions and Organizations

Unions and Organizations

Unions and Organizatio

ns

Can have unions

None

*Good to the public:

High rank good

High rank good

High rank good

High rank good

Low rank good

*Personal judgment:

Needed excessively

Needed excessively

Needed excessively

Needed in some cases

Not needed

*Payment: High High High Regular Very High*Can be

replaced with machines:

Not in all cases

No No Yes No

PROFFESSION PROFFESSION PROFFESSION JOB JOB

*Although they are professionals, Engineers do not yet hold the same status within the society that Doctors and Lawyers do.

** Codes of Ethics: “They express the rights, duties, and obligations of the members of a profession. They provide a FRAMEWORK for Ethical judgment for professionals”.

*What are codes of Ethics and what are they not?

1- A code of Ethics cannot be totally comprehensive and cover all Ethical situations.

2- A code of Ethics serves as a starting point for Ethical decision making.3- A code of Ethics does not establish new moral Ethical principles.4- A code of Ethics defines the roles and responsibilities of a professional.5- A code of Ethics is never a replacement for sound judgment.6- A code of Ethics is not a legal document.7- A code of Ethics is not a recipe to Ethical behavior.

>> How does Codes of Ethics help the Engineer?

1- Helps create an environment within the profession where Ethical behavior is a norm.

2- Provides backup for individuals who are pressured by their superiors to behave unethically.

3- Indicates to the others that the profession is seriously concerned about responsible and professional conduct.

*We have to point out that most members of professional societies do not feel compelled to abide by their codes. Many Engineers are not aware of the existence of these codes, others are aware of it but never read it, and a big number know these codes but do not consult it for problem solving.

Old Codes of Ethics:

Usually concentrated on how to conduct business or on the duties of an Engineer towards his employer.

Modern Codes of Ethics:

Commitment to safety, public health, and environmental protection.

NSPE CODES OF ETHICS IEEE CODES OF ETHICS

Long ShortHarder to understand More understandable

Not likely to be read by every member More likely to be read by all membersMore explicit, covers more ground Gives general principles

More useful in specific cases Works as a frameworkMentions the “old code” of one’s duty

to his employerDoes not mention one’s duty to his

employerDoes not involve any clauses about the

environmentHas a newly added clause that

mentions one’s duty to protect the environment

** INTERNAL CONFLICTS IN CODES:

1.1 > hold paramount the safety of the public.

1.4 > be faithful agents and trustees to one’s employers.

>> Problem: An Engineer is asked by a superior to go on with a design that is UNSAFE!

Solution1: Go on with the design, following the guidance of code (1.4).

Solution2: Not to go on with the design and risking losing your job, following code (1.1).

BEST SOLUTION: No to go on with design, but trying to convince the superior to alternate it with a safer one, combining both codes’ guidance.

*Unfortunately, not all conflicts are easily cleared out and they might need more studying.

*Codes of Ethics protect and support Engineers who are pressured by their superiors to do an unethical action.

*Some companies or educational-institutions have their own Codes of Ethics, so they are not especially made by professional societies or organizations.

*Cases in this chapter:

1- The Intel Pentium chip (pages.27,28)2- The DIA runway concrete (pages.28,29,30)

3- The Paradyne case (pages.30,31,32)__________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 3 – Understanding Ethical Problems*Brief history of Western Ethical thought:

- Greek philosophers > influence by the religious beliefs (Judaism and Christianity).

* Moral theories organize ideas, define terms, and facilitate problem solving.

** Different moral theories can lead to the same result but using more than one enriches the problem solving process, and makes it easier to decide the best solution.

>> Ethical Theories:

1- Utilitarism - “collective approach” - (SOCIETY > INDIVIDUAL)(Ex. Building Dams.)Used in: Risk-benefit and Cost-benefit analysis.

*Parts of Utilitarism:

a. Act-Utilitarism: Focuses on the good of a single action, even if it breaks the rules.

b. Rule-Utilitarism: Focuses on following the rules, even if they do not lead to the most good.

*Cost-benefit Analysis >>> Focuses on maximizing the overall good. (It’s not really an Ethical Analysis tool because it only measures the feasibility of the project based on its cost).

2- Duty Ethics and Right Ethics – (Individual > Society)They’re concerned about the good of each individual and the respect of his rights.Ethical Acts are a result of performing one’s duty in a proper way.**People have fundamental rights and it’s the duty of other people to respect those rights.*This approach isn’t useful or applicable in most cases because they think it’s more important to protect ONE than to protect a whole group.

3- Virtue Ethics – (What kind of people we should be)

*Actions are considered right if they support good character “virtue”, and wrong if they support bad character “vice”.

Virtues >>> Responsibility, Honesty, Competence, Loyalty, Trustworthiness, Fairness, Caring, Citizenship, and Respect.

Vices >>> The opposite of each virtue.

*Virtue Ethics are tied to Personal Ethics which cannot be separated from business of professional ethics.

*Conflict: HONOR is a virtue, but in some situations “pride” which is a form of honor, may result in many ethical problems, so we have to be very careful to what we consider as good in virtue ethics.

VIRTUE ETHICS SHOULD NOT LEAD TO NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES.

*Personal Vs. Corporative Morality:

Corporations with no moral agency aren’t held accountable for their actions, while their individual employees usually are.

A whole company cannot be a moral agent, but its employees “individuals” must be.

**Which theory to use?We never use just one theory; we take more than one point of view in our analysis, and try to get to the most suitable solution for the situation.

NON-WESTERN ETHICAL THINKING:

Arabic World > Islamic Ethical Thought.

India > Hindus Ethical Thought.

Ethical thoughts are similar to each other all around the world; they all indicate the same ideas and serve the same purpose.

*Cases in this chapter:

1- Bhopal Disaster (pages.44,45,46)2- Aberdeen Tree (pages.46,47)

__________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 4 – Ethical Problem-Solving Techniques

*Analysis of issues in Ethical Problems:

> As a first step, you have to understand everything about all of the issues involved.

** Determining the issues and understanding all its aspects will make finding a solution a very easy process.

*Types of issues in Ethical Problem-Solving:

1- Factual Issues: What facts you know about the case. Sometimes, the facts aren’t that clear and very hard to determine.(Ex. Global Warming).

2- Conceptual Issues: Have to do with the meaning or applicability of an idea.Not clear most of the times and need to be determined carefully.

(Ex. Difference between a gift and a bribe).3- Moral Issues: After determining and resolving factual and conceptual

issues, you now have to determine which moral principle is most suitable to the situation. This is often more obvious than the previous two.

*USEFUL TECHNIQUES:

1- Line drawing:

Draw a Positive Paradigm which will represent the “best-case scenario” and a Negative Paradigm “worst-case scenario”, and in between we can organize all the possible cases according to how “good” or “bad” they are.

2- Flow-Charting:

It gives a visual picture of a situation, and allows you to see the consequences of each action that can come from each decision.

*CONFLICT PROBLEMS:

How to choose what Moral Value to follow?

>> Try one of these three approaches:

1- The most Significant value: Ex. (Health of the public > Duty to employer).2- Creative-middle-way: Make a compromise that will work well for

everyone. “Where nobody gets what he wants and yet everybody is happy”.

3- Make the hard choice, which is the best solution possible with the information available.

*Gifts and Bribes:

> How to decide?

1- Value and cost of the thing.2- The timing of the thing.

>> Avoiding Bribes:

1- Check your company’s policy.2- Check with your colleagues and management.

*Cases in this chapter:

1- Cellular phones and cancer (pages.61,62)2- Maryland Construction (pages.62,63)

__________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 5 – Risk, Safety, and Accidents** No duty of an engineer is more important than his duty to protect the safety and the well-being of the public.

** All Professional Engineering Societies agree on the code that states “Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public”.

** There’s as implied warranty with regard to all products that they will perform as advertised, and that they are safe to use.

** Nothing is 100% safe but it’s the engineer’s responsibility is to make products as safe as reasonably possible.

>> RISK:

a. The possibility of suffering harm or loss.

b. A situation involving exposure to danger.

>> Safety:

a. Freedom form damage, injury, or risk.

b. The condition of being protected from or unlikely to cause danger, risk, or injury.

>> Accidents are caused by making an unsafe action which is considered a risky behavior.

** Factors that affect the definitions of Risk and Safety:

1. Voluntary vs. Involuntary Risk. (A risk that you already know of will seem safer than something that takes you by surprise).

2. Short-term vs. Long-term Consequences. (A risk that’ll cause a short-term illness will seem safer than something that’ll cause a permanent damage).

3. Delayed vs. Immediate Risk. (If the risk is delayed, it’ll seem safer).

4. Expected Probability. (1% chance of DYING seems safer than 100% chance of cutting you thumb).

5. Reversible Effects. (Something will seem safer if it’s bad effects can be reversed).

6. Threshold Levels for Risk. (Something that’s risky at a high-exposure will seem safer than something risky at a unform-exposure).

>> Using Engineering Analysis Methods, Professional Judgment, and public opinion, will lead you to the best solution.

** The five criteria to ensure a safe design:

1- A design must comply with the applicable laws “legal standards”.2- A design must meet the standards of “Accepted engineering practice”.3- An engineer should explore all alternative designs that are potentially safer

than his own. 4- An engineer must foresee potential misuses of the product by the

consumer, and must design to avoid these problems.5- All finished devices and proto-types must be tested before advertised.

*How to build a safe design?

1- Study standards to make a design upon. 2- Decide whether the design is safe enough to build. 3- Follow the criteria for ensuring the safety of your design. 4- Test both prototypes and finished devices. 5- Advertise it to the consumers.

**Or:

1- Define the problem.2- Generate several solutions.3- Analyze each solution.4- Test the solutions.5- Select the best solution.6- Implement the chosen solution.

*Risk-Benefit Analysis:

The only Ethical way to implement risk-benefit analysis is for the engineer to ensure to the greatest extent possible that the risks as well as the benefits of his design are shared equally in society.

ACCIDENTS:

1- Procedural Accidents: The most common type and they often happen as a result of someone making a bad choice, or not following the procedures. “Personal mistakes”.> They can easily be understood and fixed by increased training, more supervision, new rules or regulations, or closer scrutiny by the regulators.

2- Engineered Accidents: Caused by flaws in the design. These are failure of materials, devices not working as expected, or not performing well enough under specific circumstances. “Machine-caused mistakes”.> They can be dictated by gaining more designing knowledge through testing and actual experience in the field.

3- Systematic Accidents: Characteristics of very complex technologies and the complex organizations that are required to operate them. > They are very hard to understand or to control, because the systems are usually made and operated by a huge number of individuals and even a tiny mistake from one of them will cause a disastrous accident that will affect all parts of the system.

*Cases in this chapter:

1- Hurricane Katrina (pages.73,74,75)2- Valujet Crash (pages.75,76,77)3- Firestone Tires (pages.77,78)

4- Kansas city Walkways (pages.78,79,80)5- Ford Crown Victoria (pages.800,81,82)

6- The Teton Dam (pages.82,83,84)7- DC-10 case (pages.84,85,86)

8- Cellular phones and Automotive Safety (pages.86,87)9- Nanotechnology (pages.87,88)

__________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 6 – The Rights and Responsibilities of Engineers

*The engineer has a duty of protecting the public, and he has the right to do so even if it’s bad for his company.

**Professional Responsibilities:

1- Confidentiality and Proprietary Information: Keeping all information that can affect the company in the market, such as (test results, data, designs, upcoming products, and numbers of employees). The Engineer is legally forced to keep this information safe even if he leaves to work in another company in the same field.

2- Conflict of Interest: “A conflict of interest arises when an interest, if pursued, could keep a professional from meeting one or more of his obligations التزام , .”واجب

**Types of Conflict of Interest:

a. Actual Conflict of Interest > Compromises objective engineering judgment.b. Potential Conflict of Interest > One that threatens to easily become an

actual conflict.c. The Appearance of a Conflict of Interest > Especially when an engineer is

paid based on a percentage of the cost of the design.

*How to avoid conflicts of interest?a. Follow the company’s policy.b. Asking a coworker or the management for a second opinion. c. Examine your motive, using Ethical problem-solving techniques.d. Look to the statements in the professional codes of Ethics that uniformly forbid conflicts of interest.

**Professional Rights:

Engineers’ rights are given to them no matter what their professional status is.

1- The right to privacy.2- The right to participate in any activities of one’s own choice outside of

work.3- The right to reasonably object to the company’s policies without fear of

retribution.4- The right to professional judgment.5- The right to refuse to engage in an unethical behavior.

**Engineers and the Defense Industry:

a. Some think it’s totally unethical to build weapons that will be used to kill humans, no matter where they are or what they did.

b. Others think it’s the most ethical thing to do, since it helps protect their nation and their country against those who want to destroy it.

**Whistle-blowing: “The act by an employee of informing the public or higher authorities of unethical or illegal behavior by an employer or a supervisor”.

*Types of whistle-blowing:

1- Internal whistle-blowing >> Inside the company itself, like taking the complaint to the president of the company himself instead of your director or manager.

2- External whistle-blowing >> Outside the company, like reports given to newspapers or to law-enforcement authorities.

>> Both types are seen as forms of DISLOYALTY, but keeping inside the company is less serious than taking it high to the media or the police.

*Other types:

1- Acknowledged whistle-blowing >> When the employee who is making the accusations gives his name and is totally willing to withstand scrutiny brought on by them.

2- Anonymous whistle-blowing >> When the employee who is making the accusations refuses to provide his name.

**Whistle-blowing is considered to be very bad from the corporations’ point of view, because it leads to distrust and disharmony within the company and between the employees.

**When should whistle-blowing be attempted?

1- Need >> When there’s a clear and important harm that can be avoided by blowing the whistle.

2- Proximity >> The whistle-blower must be in a very clear position to report on the problem, hearsay is not adequate, firsthand knowledge is essential to making an effective case about what went wrong.

3- Capability >> The whistle-blower must have a reasonable chance of success in preventing the harmful activity that he reported.

4- Last resort >> It only should be attempted when there’s no one else more capable or more proximate to blow the whistle, and if you feel all other lines of action were explored and shut off.

**Whistle-blowing is morally acceptable when the aim of it is protect the wellbeing of the public, but it’s highly unethical to blow a whistle on someone for the sake of taking revenge from a fellow employee or a supervisor.

**Preventing whistle-blowing:

1- Having a strong corporate ethics culture.2- There should be clear lines of communication within the corporation.3- All employees must have meaningful access to high-level managers in

order to bring their concerns forward.4- There should be willingness on the part of the management to admit

mistakes.

*Cases in this chapter:

1- The BART Case (pages.100,101,102,103)2- The Goodrich Case (pages.103,104,105)

3- The Therac-25 Accidents (pages.105,106)4- The Civic-Center Collapse (pages.106,107)

__________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 7 – Ethical Issues in Engineering Practice

ENVIROMENTAL ETHICS >> “Sustainable Design” or “Green Engineering”.

COMPUTER ETHICS >> They make unethical behaviors easier and faster.

**Computer Codes of Ethics >> Many organizations have developed codes of ethics especially for the use of computers in an ethical way, they are guidelines for the ethical use of computing resources.

Ethics and research: There are two major ethical issues connected to research:

a. Honesty in approaching the research problem.b. Honesty in reporting the results.

We have to distinguish between (Intentional deception) and simply (Incorrect results).

We have to ensure that everyone who had anything to do with making a successful research will get the credit they deserve.

*Cases in this chapter:

1- Avanti vs. Cadence Design Systems (pages.118,119)2- The city of Albuquerque Water Case (pages.121,122)

3- The N-Ray Case (pages.122,123,124)4- Texas Cold Fusion (pages.124,125,126)

__________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 8 – Doing the Right Thing*Cases in this chapter:

1- The Citicorp-Center Case (pages.131,132,133,134,135)2- Automobile Crash Testing (pages.135,136)

GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF US, WAFAA MASSAD!!