Unitiv
Unitiv
Unitiv
Ethics in
Engineering
Unit IV
UNIT IV
Safety, Responsibilities and
Rights
Safety
Risk – and Benefit
Risk Risk – Assessment
Analysis andof Reducing
Safety
and
Risk – Respect for Authority – Collective
= Probability of occurrence ×
Consequence in
magnitude
Types of Risk
Acceptable Risk
Voluntary risk and control
Job related risks
Personal risks
Public risks
Acceptable Risk
Acceptable risk refers to the level of human and property
injury or loss from an industrial process that is considered to be
tolerable by an individual, household, group, organization,
community, region, state, or nation in view of the social,
political, and economic cost-benefit analysis.
Example: For instance, the risk of flooding can be accepted
once every 500 years but it is not unacceptable in every ten
years.
it is management's responsibility to set their company's level of
risk. As a security professional, it is your responsibility to
work with management and help them understand what it
means to define an acceptable level of risk.
Each company has its own acceptable risk level, which is
derived from its legal and regulatory compliance
responsibilities.
Acceptable Risk Vs Unacceptable Risk
Voluntary Risk
A person is said to take ‘VOLUNTARY RISK’.
When he/she is subjected to risk by either his own
actions or action taken by others, volunteers take that risk
without any apprehension. Ex: over rough ground for
amusement
Voluntary risks have to do with lifestyle choices. They are
the risks that people take knowing that they may have
consequences. These risks include smoking tobacco,
driving a car, skydiving, and climbing a ladder.
Involuntary risks are risks that people take either not
knowing that they are at risk, or they are unable to control
the fact that they are at risk, such as secondhand smoke.
These risks often include environmental hazards such as
Voluntary risk Vs Involuntary risk
Job related risks
Many workers are taking risks in their jobs in their stride like
being exposed to asbestos.
Exposure to risks on a job is in one sense of voluntary nature
since one can always refuse to submit to the work or may
have control over how the job is done.
But generally workers have no choice other than what they
are told to do since they want to stick to the only job
available to them.
But they are not generally informed about the exposure to
toxic substances and other dangers which are not readily
seen, smelt, heard or otherwise sensed.
Occupational health and safety regulations and unions can
have a better say in correcting these situations but still things
are far below expected safety standards.
Personal Risk
Assessing the personal risk is a difficult task.
Examples: A person living near a chemical plant
voluntarily or involuntarily; A person working in a
nuclear plant or oil refinery plant.
While assessing the personal risk, one should consider the
following ethical questions.
How to access the money value of an individual’s life?
On what basis, the compensation for a risk can be
decided?
Is the compensation for a risk by an amount based on the
exposure/tolerance of the average person justifiable?
What will be the compensation if the tolerance level of
the person is below or above the average tolerance
level?
Personal Risk
Assessing the personal risk is difficult.
Any of the following methodologies may be
adopted to assess quantitatively the personal risk.
Assess the voluntary activities (Life insurance policy taken)
Assess the degree of occupational hazard (e.g.
dust, radiation and asbestosis) and its effect on health.
Loss of sense such as sight (eyes), hearing (ears) and loss of limbs etc.
Loss of earning capability
Get assistance by trained arbiter
Public Risk
Assessing the public risk is relatively easy. To assess the
public risk, the loss of assets and the correction costs are
estimated.
Loss of reduction in future income or earning capacity due to loss of
their capability /physical disability.
Cost associated with an accident, (transportation / treatment etc.)
Cost of welfare (rehabilitation, alternate jobs and other benefits, etc.)
Event Tree Analysis
Assessment of Safety and Risk
Absolute safety is never possible to attain and safety
can be improved in an engineering product only with an
increase in cost.
On the other hand, unsafe products increase secondary
costs to the producer beyond the primary (production)
costs, like warranty costs loss of goodwill, loss
of customers, legal action costs, downtime costs in
manufacturing, etc.
Figure indicates that P- Primary costs are high for a highly
safe (low risk) product and S- Secondary costs are high
for a highly risky (low safe) product.
It should now be clear that ‘safety comes with a price’
only.
Assessment of Safety and Risk
Assessment of Safety and Risk
Assessment of Safety and Risk
1. Risk avoidance,
2. Risk transfer,
3. Risk reduction and
4. Risk retention.
Each is applicable under different circumstances.
Some ways of managing risk fall into multiple
categories. Multiple ways of managing risk are
often utilized simultaneously.
Reducing Risk
1. Risk avoidance (elimination of risk)
• It involves completely avoiding
activity that poses an potential
a
However, this is not alwaysrisk.
practical.
• By avoiding risk we forfeit potential
gains, be it in life, in business or in with
investments.
Reducing Risk
2. Risk Transfer (insuring against risk)
Most commonly, this is to buy an insurance policy. The
risk is transferred to a third-party entity (in most cases an
insurance company).
To be more clear, the financial risk is transferred to a third-
party.
For example, a homeowner’s insurance policy does not
transfer the risk of a house fire to the insurance
company, it only transfers the financial risk. A house
fire is still just as likely as before. Risk sharing is also a
type of risk transfer. For example, members assume a
smaller amount of risk by transferring and sharing the
remainder of risk with the group.
Reducing Risk
3. Risk Reduction (mitigating risk)
This is the idea of reducing the extent or possibility of a loss. This can
be done by increasing precautions or limiting the amount of risky
activity.
For example, installing a security alarm, smoke detectors, wearing a
seat belt or wearing a helmet are ways of employing risk reduction.
Diversification of assets and hedging are forms of risk reduction
with investments. Investments in information are a way of
mitigating risk because you are better informed, thus reducing the
uncertainty.
Another way of employing risk reduction is the safety in numbers
approach.
When discussing risk transfer, we spoke briefly about risk sharing.
The larger the number of people sharing risk, the less severe the
shared effects will be. Statistically, only a small number of
individuals in the group will experience an unfortunate event.
Insurance companies exist based on this concept.
Reducing Risk
4. Risk Retention (accepting risk)
Risk retention simply involves accepting the risk. Even if the risk is
mitigated, if it is not avoided or transferred, it is retained. Retention
is effective for small risks that do not pose any significant financial
threat.
The financial status of the family or individual will determine the
acceptability of a risk.
A couple of examples of risk retention: A billionaire may not
have to worry about insuring his car. An individual may not be
able to afford or obtain health insurance. Both individuals are
retaining risk, one is because they’re able to, the other is
because they have to. Risk retention augments risk
transfer through deductibles. With a deductible,
we retain
insure’ small,
or frequent
‘self- occurrences and only utilize insurance
for needs over a particular dollar threshold, our deductible
limit.
Engineering Responsibilities
Responsibilities of an Engineer
Responsibilities include both internal
(responsibilities responsibilities to employers) and
responsibilities (responsibilities
external to outside world).
Engineer functions at the socio-technological ‘interface’
(with science and technology on one side and, individuals
and communities on the other)
Engineer bears a unique responsibility to decide on
priorities, establish performance criteria, select materials
and processes, and specify evaluation procedures.
Major responsibilities of an engineer
Problem Solving
Decision making
Engineering Responsibilities
Internal Responsibilities
Internal Responsibilities
In today’s competitive world, the success
of any organization relies on the team-play.
Team-play involves virtues of:
Collegiality
Loyalty
Respect for authority
Collective bargaining
Engineering Responsibilities
Internal Responsibilities
COLLEGIALITY
Collegiality is the tendency to support and
cooperate with the colleagues.
It is a virtue essential for team work to be effective.
Aspects/Elements of Collegiality
Respect to the ideas and work of others
Commitment to moral principles
Commitment is towards moral decision,
actions, goals of the organization and values of the
profession.
Connectedness
Shared commitment and mutual understanding;
Sense of unity among engineers (absence of egoism)
Engineering Responsibilities
Internal Responsibilities
LOYALTY is Quality of being true
and faithful in one’s support.
Two Senses of Loyalty
Agency Loyalty
Attitude Loyalty or
Identification Loyalty
Engineering Responsibilities
Internal Responsibilities
Agency Loyalty
It is to fulfill one’s contractual duties to an employer.
The contractual duties include particular tasks for which one
is paid, general activities of cooperating with colleagues and
following lawful authority within the organization.
Example: People may not like the job they do and hate their
employer, but still they would perform their duty as long as
they are employers. This sense of loyalty is known as
Agency Loyalty.
Attitude or Identification Loyalty
It is concerned with attitudes, emotions, and a sense of
personal identity as it does with actions.
It implies that an employee should meet his/her moral duties
to the organization with personal attachment and affirmation.
Engineering Responsibilities
Internal Responsibilities
AUTHORITY
Authority is the right to make decisions, right to
direct the work of others, and right to give
orders.
Authority can be defined as the legal right to
command action by others and to enforce
compliance.
Types of Authority
Institutional Authority
Expert Authority
Engineering Responsibilities
Internal Responsibilities
Institutional Authority
Institutional Authority can be defined as the institutional right
given to a person to exercise power based on the resources of
institution, complete the task and force them to achieve goals.
It is authority given by the institution to the qualified
individuals in order to meet their institutional objectives.
E.g. Line Managers and Project Managers have the
institutional duty to make sure that the products/projects are
completed successfully.
Expert Authority
Expert Authority is the possession of special knowledge, skills,
expertise and competence to perform some task or to give some
advice.
Authority Vs. Power
Engineering Responsibilities
Internal Responsibilities
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
It is the bargain by the trade union for improving the economic
interests of the workers.
The process is collective in the sense that issue relating to terms
and conditions of employment are solved by representatives of
employees and employers rather than individuals.
The term bargaining refers to evolving an agreement using
methods like negotiation, discussion, exchange of facts and
ideals rather than confrontation.
Process of Collective Bargaining
Presenting the character of demands by the union
Negotiations at the bargaining table
Reaching an agreement.
Engineering Responsibilities
Internal Responsibilities
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
Unionism and Professionalism
Collective bargaining assumes ‘unionism’. Legally any organization
employing more than 20 employees could have a union.
Employers from unions to safeguard the interests of employees and to
prevent exploitation of employees.
Many professional managers have argued that ethical aspects of
professionalism in engineering are inconsistent with union ideology.
According to John Kemper, the unionism and professionalism are
conflicting with each other. Professionalism offers important to the
interests of society and of the employer. But unions consider the interests
of the employees ahead of the interests of their employer.
A number of professional societies have emphasized that loyalty to
employers and the public not possible with any form of collective
bargaining.
Many professional societies indirectly instruct the engineers that they
should not become member of the unions.
Engineering Responsibilities
Internal Responsibilities
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING - Arguments over Unions
Arguments in favor of unions
Unions play a vital role in achieving high salaries and improved
standard of living of employees.
Unions give employees a greater sense of
participation in organization decision-making.
Unions ensure job security and protection against
arbitrary
treatment to the employees.
Unions have the ability to resist any orders from
employers to perform unethical acts.
Unions maintain stability by providing an effective
grievance procedure for employee complaints.
Unions can act as a counterforce to any radical
political movements that exploit the employees.
Engineering Responsibilities
Internal Responsibilities
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING - Arguments over Unions
Arguments against unions
Unions shatter the economy of a country by placing distorting
influences on efficient uses of labor.
Unions remove person-to-person negotiations between
employers and employees. Thus an individual is not given much
important in the process of collective bargaining.
Unions encourage unrest and strained relations between
employees and employee.
Unions encourage the unhealthy concept of job promotion,
salary hike etc. on the basis of seniority.
Unions prevent employer from rewarding individuals for their
personal achievements.
Engineering Responsibilities
External Responsibilities
External Responsibilities
The responsibilities to the outside
world include:
Confidentiality
Conflict of interest
Occupational crimes
Engineering Responsibilities
External Responsibilities
CONFIDENTIALITY
Confidentiality means keeping the information on the
employer and clients as secrets. It is one of the important
aspects of team work.
Confidentiality is that practice which helps to keep
secret all information deemed desirable to keep secret. The
maintenance of secrecy refers to the unrevealing of any
data concerning the company’s business or technical
processes that are not already in public knowledge. Every
company has some knowledge and can
identify the individuals and groupsthat might
have
particular
access
set of
to information.
a The members of such groups
share the responsibility of maintaining confidentiality.
Engineering Responsibilities
External Responsibilities
CONFIDENTIALITY
Term related to Confidential Information
Privileged Information
It refers information that is available only on the basis of special
privilege. That is, information available to an employee who is
working on a special assignment.
It includes information that has not yet become to public or known
within an organization.
Proprietary Information
It is the information that is owned by a company.
It refers to a new knowledge established within the organization that
can be legally protected from use by others.
This term is used as synonym for ‘property’ and ‘ownership’
Engineering Responsibilities
External
CONFIDENTIALITY
Responsibilities
Trade Secrets
A trade secret can be any type of information that has not become
public and which an employer has taken steps to keep secret.
These trade secrets may be about designs, technical processes, plant
facilities, quality control systems, business plans, marketing strategies
and so on.
Trade secrets are given limited legal protection against employee or
contractor abuse. In the sense, an employer can sue employees or
contractors for leaking trade secrets.
Patents Vs Trade Secrets
Patents legally protect specific products from being manufactured and
sold by competitors without the permission of the patent holder.
Patents Vs. Trade Secrets: A patent holder has legally protected
monopoly power. But in case of trade secrets, the legal protection is
limited to keeping relationships of confidentiality and trust.
Engineering Responsibilities
External Responsibilities
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
Situation where professionals have self-interest. If self-interest is
given importance, it may keep them away from meeting their
obligations to their employees or clients.
Following are the examples:
To serve as a consultant for a competitor’s company
Personal interest such as making private investments in a
competitor’s company
Types of Conflicts of Interest
Actual conflicts of interest arises when an
employee compromise objective engineering
judgment.
Potential conflicts of interest may corrupt
professional judgment in the future.
Apparent conflicts of interest : There are situations in which
Engineering Responsibilities
External Responsibilities
Conflicts of interest and Accepting Gifts/Bribes
Mostly engineers who find themselves in actual, potential, or apparent conflicts
of interest are those involving accepting gifts.
What is a bribe?
A bribe is something, such as money or a favor, offered or given to someone
in a position of trust in order to induce him to act dishonestly.
It is something offered to influence or persuade.
What are the ethical reasons for not tolerating bribery?
Bribery corrupts free-market economic system and is anticompetitive.
Bribery corrupts justice and public policy by allowing rich people to
make all the rules.
Bribery treats people as commodities that can be bought and sold.
What is meant by the term ‘kickbacks’?
Kickbacks are another form of bribing.
Prearranged payments by contractors companies or
made representatives in to for contracts granted their are
exchange Kickbacks. actually called
Engineering Responsibilities
External Responsibilities
When is a gift a bribe? (What are the differences between a
gift and a bribe?)
Gifts are not bribes as long as they are gratuities of smaller
amounts. But bribes are illegal and immoral because they are
worth of substantial amounts.
Gift may play a legitimate role in the normal conduct of business
whereas a bribe influence the judgment.
In olden rules, the following thumb rule was applied:
A gift is a bribe if one can’t eat, drink or smoke it in a day.
Today a more appropriate thumb rule says:
If you think that your offer (or acceptance) of a particular gift would have
grave or merely embarrassing consequences for your company if made
public, then the gift should be considered a bribe.
Engineering Responsibilities
External Responsibilities
OCCUPATIONAL CRIMES
Occupational crimes are illegal acts committed
through a person's lawful employment.
It is the secretive violation of laws regarding
work activities.
When or office workers commit
professional the it is referred
as ’White Collar
occupational
crimes, Crime’.
Even crimes that are aimed at promoting the interest of
one’s employer rather than oneself are considered as
occupational crimes.
Occupational crimes impinge on various aspects such as
professionalism, loyalty, conflict of interest, and
confidentiality.
Rights of Engineers
Concept of rights can be categorized into
the following three types:
1. Human Rights
2. Employee Rights
a) Contractual rights
b) Non-contractual rights
3. Professional Rights
Rights of Engineers
EMPLOYEE RIGHTS are the rights that apply or refer to the
status or position of employee.
Employees are entitled for moral or legal rights.
Few important ‘employee rights’ are as follows.
No organization shall discriminate against an
employeefor criticizing.
No organization shall discriminate against an
employeefor
being engaged in outside activities of his/her choice.
No Organization shall deprive an employee of the enjoyment
of reasonable privacy in his/her place of work.
No employees in an organization who find fault that his rights
have been violated, shall be discharged or penalized without
a fair enquiry in the organization.
Rights to free speech and dissent, conscientious refusal right
Rights of Engineers
Contractual Employee Rights
These employee rights are institutional rights that arise
only due to the specific agreements in the employment contract.
Examples: The contractual employee rights include
Right to receive a salary of a certain amount; and
Right to receive other company
benefits such as bonuses, salary increments etc.
Non-contractual Employee Rights
These are rights existing even if not formally recognized in the
specific contracts or company policies.
Examples: The non-contractual employee rights include
Right to choose outside activities;
Right to privacy and employer confidentiality
Right to non-discrimination and
absence of sexual harassment at the
workplace.
Rights of Engineers
Engineers have several types of moral rights, apart from human,
employee and professional rights as human beings.
PROFESSIONAL RIGHTS are the rights possessed by virtue
of being professionals having special moral responsibilities.
The professional rights include
Right to exercise one’s professional judgment on the basis of
his/her conscience.
Right to refuse to involve in unethical activities
Right to warn the public about harms and dangers
Right to express one’s professional judgment, including his
right to disagree
Right to fair recognition and remuneration for professional
services
Right to talk publicly about one’s work within bounds.
Rights of Engineers
Various aspects of Professional Rights
Rights of Professional conscience
One of the most fundamental rights of engineers
Moral right to exercise responsible professional judgment in discharging
one’s professional responsibilities
Negative right: it places an obligation on other people not to interfere with its
exercise.
Positive right: it places an obligation on other people to do more than merely
not interfering.
Specific Rights