Presentation Material From:

Engineering Ethics: Concepts & Cases

Third Edition
Charles E. Harris, Jr.
Michael S. Pritchard
Michael J. Rabins

Two Widely Discussed Stories That Illustrate How

Ethics Come Into Play in Engineering Practice
#1: The Challenger Disaster
Night
of
January
27,
1986
prelaunch
teleconference involving Morton Thiokol and the
Marshall Space Center very tense. Morton Thiokol
engineers recommended canceling next mornings
launch. Worries of O-ring seals at low temps.
Chief O-ring engineer Roger Boisjoly had warned
about problems more than a year earlier.
Technical evidence incomplete but ominous.
Teleconference temporarily suspended.

#1: The Challenger Disaster (continued)

Gerald Mason, senior VP at Morton Thiokol, knew
NASA need successful launch. Also knew Morton
Thiokol needed a new contract with NASA. Finally,
knew data inconclusive.
Mason told supervising engineer Robert Lund to
Take off your engineering hat and put on your
management hat.
The no-launch recommendation was reversed.

#1: The Challenger Disaster (continued)

Boisjoly deeply upset by no-launch reversal. His
professional judgment was that O-rings were not
trustworthy.
Frantically
tried
to
persuade
management to stick to no-launch recommendation
but his requests were not heeded.
Challenger exploded 73 seconds into launch. Six
astronauts killed including schoolteacher Christa
McAuliffe.
NASAs reputation
Millions

#2: Ghost of the Executed Engineer

Peter Palchinsky grew up in Russia in late 19th
century.
Attended
St.
Petersburg
School
of
Mines.
Supplemented
income
working
in
factories,
railroads, and coal mines. First hand experience
with living conditions of the workers.
After graduation in 1901 Palchinsky assigned by
government to study methods to increase coal
production in the Ukraines Don River basin.
Palchinsky reported deplorable living conditions of
workers. Underpaid, poor health, low morale.

#2: Ghost of the Executed Engineer

His report became pioneering work in developing
field of industrial engineering.
Palchinsky sentenced to eight years of house arrest
because of his report.
Charged with working with anarchists to overthrow
the tsarist government.
Continued to be used as consultant by government
while
under
house
arrest
because
his
recommendations led to increases in productivity.
Escaped to western Europe after three years of
house arrest.

#2: Ghost of the Executed Engineer (continued)

Soon recognized as leading and most productive
engineer in Europe.
Eventually pardoned by Russia.
Served as
consultant to tsarist government. Imprisoned after
Bolshevik revolution.
Lenin used Palchinskys skills decade of
interrupted stays in Siberian prison.
Very critical of Stalins massive engineering projects
careless
disregard
of
engineering
and
humanitarian issues.

#2: Ghost of the Executed Engineer (continued)

It is estimated that more than 5,000 slave laborers
lost their lives and were buried in foundations of
canal.
Palchinsky continued to decry engineering and
humanitarian shortcomings of Stalin projects.
Secretly taken from prison and executed in 1929.
In 1990s papers written by Palchinsky uncovered.
He wrote that no government regime could survive
the Bolsheviks inhumanity. Predicted collapse of
Russian government before end of 20th century.

What We Should Learn

Whether or not advice is accepted, engineers must
be prepared to look for problems and report them to
others and, when appropriate, urge that something
be done.
In Boisjolys (Chief O-ring Engineer) early training
he was criticized by supervisor for delaying reporting
of problem (he was young engineer, reluctant to
point out trouble). Supervisor told him the longer
one delays the more it will cost to fix the problem.

What We Should Learn

Thankfully we do not face the difficulties that
Palchinsky did. But doing the right thing still may
require us to have courage.
Likely we all will encounter challenging situations
that require careful ethical reflection and wellthought out decision making processes.

Tom is designing a new chemical plant. One

of his responsibilities is to specify the valves
to be used in a certain portion of the plant.
Before he makes his final decision, a
salesman for one of the firms that
manufactures valves invites Tom to a golf
game at the local country club. Should Tom
accept the offer?

Engineering Ethics: Concepts & Cases

Mary discovers that her plant is discharging a

substance into a local river. The substance is not
regulated by the government. She decides to do
some reading about the substance and finds that
some studies suggest it is a carcinogen. As an
engineer, she believes she has an obligation to
protect the public, but she also wants to be a loyal
employee.
The substance will probably be
expensive to remove, and her boss says, Forget
about it until the government makes us do
something. Then all the other plants will have to
spend money too, and we will not be at a
competitive disadvantage. What should Mary do?
Engineering Ethics: Concepts & Cases

Jims company has an in-house tool-and-die

department that would like to bid on a
contract that has been submitted to outside
vendors. The in-house manager asks Jim
for the quotes for the other vendors so that
he can under-bid them.
After all, the
department manager argues, we are both
on the same team. Its better to keep the
money inside if we can. You dont have to
tell the outsiders what you have done.
What should Jim do?
Engineering Ethics: Concepts & Cases

What is a Profession
In early times profession referred to a free act of
commitment to a way of life
Has come to mean The occupation which one
professes to be skilled in and to follow A vocation
in which professed knowledge of some branch of
learning is used in its application to the affairs of
others, or in the practice of an art based upon it.
(Oxford Dictionary)
Engineering Ethics: Concepts & Cases defines five
characteristics that are useful in distinguishing
professions from nonprofessional occupations.

Five Characteristics of Profession

Entrance requires extensive training and this

training is of an intellectual character. (Knowledge
based in body of theory, today most professions
require at least BS.)
Professionals knowledge and skills are vital to the
well-being of the larger society.
Professions usually have a monopoly or a near
monopoly on the provision of professional
services.
Professionals often have an unusual degree of
autonomy in the workplace.
Professionals claim to be regulated by ethical
standards, which are usually embodied in a code
of ethics.

Occupations that hold clear title to professional

status are medicine, law, veterinary medicine,
architecture, certified public accounting, and
dentistry.
Engineering could be regarded as borderline but
given critical role that formal education and special
expertise play in engineering practice reasonable
to regard engineering as profession.

Professional Ethics

Professional ethics should be distinguished from

personal ethics and common morality.
Professional ethics is the set of standards adopted
by professionals insofar as they see themselves
acting as professionals.
Personal ethics is the set of ones own ethical
commitments (home and religious training)
Common morality is the set of moral ideas shared
by most members of a culture or society.
These three types of morality can overlap and it
can be difficult to tell if a given activity is required
or prohibited by one or more of the three types of
morality.

What Type(s) of Ethics/Morality?

Engineer refuses to design military hardware

because she thinks war is immoral.
Civil engineer refuses to design project because he
believes it will be contrary to principles of
sustainable development.
Engineer insists on complete honesty in reporting
technical information to his client or employer.

Professional Codes of Ethics

Codes of ethics articulate shared standards of

professional ethics.
Establish common, agreed-upon standards for
professional conduct.
Individual is not left on his own to try to figure out
what is proper.
For the public the existence of professional
standards embodied in a code of ethics enables a
potential client to make certain assumptions about
professional conduct even if the client has no
knowledge of the personal ethics of the
professional.
Code of ethics essentially expresses agreement
among professionals themselves and between
professionals and the public.

Professional Codes of Ethics Vary with Time

Not until mid-1950s that major engineering codes

of
ethics
put
greater
responsibility
on
responsibility to public. Engineers have not only
duties of fidelity to their employers and clients but
also duties to the public.
Statements like due regard for the safety and
health of public added.
Then elevated to engineers shall hold paramount
the safety, health and welfare of the public in the
performance of their professional duties.

Examples of Employing Code in Engineering Work

Asked to share confidential data from Client B with

Client A: I must refuse your request. This is a
violation of my professional code of ethics.
Asked to omit certain facts in expert witness
testimony: My professional code of ethics requires
that I include all relevant information in my
testimony.
You are a stockholder in a fastener company that
makes fasteners that you feel are the best on the
market. Your fellow stockholders ask you to stop
disclosing your financial interest in the company
when you specify the fasteners: My professional
code of ethics requires that I disclose known or
potential conflicts of interest.

Excerpts from Code of Ethics of

National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE)

Engineers must disclose known or potential conflict

of interest to their employers and clients.
Engineers must recognize the proprietary
interests of others.
First of the fundamental canons requires engineers
to hold paramount the safety, health and welfare
of the public in the performance of their
professional duties.
Directs engineers to act in professional matters
for each employer or client as faithful agents or
trustees.

Engineering Ethics as Preventive Ethics

By anticipating the sorts of ethical problems that

could be crises we may prevent the crises from
occurring.
Engineers must be able to think ahead to
anticipate consequences of their actions as
professionals, especially consequences that may
have an ethical dimension.
Engineers must be able to think effectively about
those consequences and decide what is ethically
right.