Human Rights and Civil

Engineering

Contents

1.0 Introduction to Article 25 in UDHR...................................3

2.0 Violation of the Article 25 in UDHR and innovative that can
avoid the violation...............................................................3
3.0 Conclusion..................................................................4
4.0 Abbreviations..............................................................5

1.0

Introduction to Article 23, 24, 25 in UDHR

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a declaration,

which was adopted by the United Nations (UN) general Assembly in
1948 after the tragic events occurred during the Second World War.
With the end of Second World War the international community
agreed to never allow such events to occur. That thought ended up
making the most important document regarding the human kind, the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In UDHR, it says that the
recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable
rights of all members of human kind is the foundation of freedom
justice and peace in the entire world.1
Article 25 in the UDHR describes that everyone has the right to a
standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself
and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care
and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of
unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack
of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. Also it tells that
Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance.
All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same
social protection.

2.0Violation of the Article 25 in UDHR and innovative that can

avoid the violation
Civil Engineering is one of the largest engineering fields in todays
industry. It includes different fields such as construction, Highway,
Irrigation Engineering , Costal Engineering etc. As this is a wide
spread field a lot of engineers are working in different industries as
1

industrial engineers, structural Engineers, etc across the world. Since

civil engineers are working in different sectors, in some occasions
there will be some conflicts between the profession and the human
rights. We have seen the right of having adequate standard of living
for health and well-being (Article 25) is violated in the industry
according to varies experience from the civil Engineers.
Mostly the civil engineers are working as the structural and site
engineers in construction sites and in design office. As civil engineers
we have to expose to different kind of construction sites and a lot of
people are working under a civil engineer. So we have to ensure our
subordinates human rights while protecting our own human rights.
According to senior civil engineers experience in the construction
sites they have said how human rights are violated. When we are
working in a site, the workers have to be exposed in to dust, tiny
particles etc. In the long run this exposure will lead to some serious
illnesses like lung cancers, asthma etc. There their human right is
violated. So in order to avoid violation site management should
provide adequate personal protective equipments (PPE) like masks,
eye guards, proper shoes to the users. They should have a proper
emergency plan in case of an emergency. In order to protect the right
of the worker those places should be covered and there should be a
proper safety policy for the company. By introducing a proper safety
policy we can assure the safety of the workers. But there may be some
people who does not obey the safety policy but we have to apply some
strict rules in order to protect their rights.

2.0

Violation of the Article 23 in UDHR and innovative that can

avoid the violation

Lot of minor workers works under a civil Engineer. So as the

superior of these workers we should protect their human rights from
their peers and from the superiors.

(1)

Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment,

to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection
against unemployment.

(2)

Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal

pay for equal work.

2.0

Violation of the Article 24 in UDHR and innovative that can

avoid the violation
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including
reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays
with pay. As the management of the company we should
provide the proper vacations and rest time. Also we should
provide maternal leaves for the pregnancy period. Also we
provide proper pension salary after the retirement.

3.0

Conclusion

From the above explanations we can understand how the human rights
are violated specially article 25 is violated in the field of mechanical
engineering. As we are Engineers we have to understand the human
rights concepts well and do our profession without violating some
others rights. We can understand how the world is trying to protect the
rights of people. Even though there are many articles and sentences, in
my opinion if we re-think about the human values and do our work,
we can do our jobs without violating any persons human right.
.