Ethics

in
Engineering
profession
and
Some case study

Prepared by:
Kamal Shahi
Roll no: 25

Ethics

Study of the general

nature of morals and of
the specific moral choices
to be made by a person

Set of standard or codes

derived from human
reasons and experience
by which human actions
are determined as right
or wrong/ good or evil

Generally Ethics Is:

a. The science of customs or habits
b. The science of character or conducts
c. The science of rightness or wrongness
d. The science of morality
e. A normative science

Shakespeare -- "When in Rome, do as

the
Romans do"
Kant -- "Do not do unto others as you
would not have them do unto you"
the Bible -- "he that dig a pit shall fall
into it confront

Engineering Ethics

field of applied ethics and system of

moral principles that apply to the
practice of engineering
examines and sets the obligations by
engineers to society, to their clients, and
to the profession

Why ETHICS in Engineering???

Engineers responsibility to society in not only

bringing new technology, discoveries, and
designs to the world
but
also in protecting the public interest

On the beginning of 20th century there had

been significant structural failures like
Ashtabula River Railroad Disaster (1876), Tay
Bridge Disaster (1879), and the Quebec Bridge
collapse (1907), Boston molasses disaster etc

Ashtabula River Railroad Disaster (1876)

Quebec Bridge(before)

Quebec Bridge(After)

CITICORP BUILDING(case study

explained later)

Tay Bridge(Before)
Tay Bridge(after)

These disasters forced the engineering

profession to confront shortcomings in
technical and construction practice, as well as
ethical standards
engineers are reminded of their
responsibilities starting in early-college
coursework and progressing throughout their
careers in continuing education courses.
It is not for preaching virtue rather, its
objective is to increase your ability as
engineers to responsibly tackle the
moral issues raised by technological
activity.

SCOPE OF ENGINEERING
ETHICS

Engineering as
Social
Experimentatio
n
Moral
Values

Technologic
al
Developme
nt

al
c
i
s
h
Et mma
le
Di

Engineering
Ethics

Re
sp
em y ons
pl to ibi
lit
oy
ee
s

Micro &
Macro
Issues

The rs
ee it
n
i
Eng nsibil
po
ty
s
e
f
e
a
R
rS
o
F
y

ting
o
m
Pro
ible
s
n
o
Resp duct
Con

Rig
en hts
gin o
ee f
rs

Code of Ethics for

Engineers

Engineering is an important and learned profession. Engineering

has a direct and vital impact on the quality of life for all people
so services provided by engineers require honesty, impartiality,
fairness, and equity, and must be dedicated to the protection of
the public health, safety, and welfare
Fundamental principles:

Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public.

Perform services only in areas of their competence.
Issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner.
Act for each employer or client as faithful agents or trustees. Avoid
deceptive acts.
Conduct themselves honorably, responsibly, ethically, and
lawfully so as to enhance the honor, reputation, and usefulness of the
profession

National Society of Professional Engineers has

provided the set of codes of ethics for
engineers including
1. Fundamental canons
2. Rules of practice
3. Professional obligations
(detail on report)

The professional Code of Conduct to be followed by the registered Engineers

of the Council, subject to the
provision of the Nepal Engineering Council (NEC) Act, 2055 (1998) and the
Nepal Engineering Council Regulation,
2057(2000), has been published as follows :
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Discipline and honesty

Politeness and confidentiality
Non-discrimination
Professional Work
Deeds which may cause harm to the engineering profession
Personal responsibility
State name, designation and registration no
No publicity or advertisement must be made which may cause
unnecessary effect

Nepal Engineers Association adopted code of ethics for its fellow

members in Chaitra 6, 2065.
According to NEA
Fundamental Principles of Professional Engineering Ethics

Upholding and advancing engineering profession

Keeping high standards of Ethical conduct

Quality of Engineers to adhere with above principles

Engineer

Will be honest and fair and serve employer, clients and public
Will declare to the advancement of competence of engineering profession
and to disseminate engineering knowledge
Will use his knowledge and skill in the service of humanity

Code also directs the relationship of Nepalese Engineer with

Relation with Public

Relation with Employers and Clients
Relation with Engineers

Some case studies

OF
ENGINEERING
ETHICS

1. THE CASE OF THE KILLER

ROBOT

Randy Samuels employed as a programmer at the Silicon

Techtronic's Inc. The charge involves the death of Bart
Matthews, who was killed by an assembly line robot .
Victim worked as robot operator at Cybernetics Inc. in
Silicon Heights. He was crushed to death when the robot
he was operating malfunctioned and started to wave its
hands violently.
written formula ,provided by the project physicist, which
Samuels was supposed to program. But he negligently
misinterpreted the formula leading to this huge gruesome
death. Society must protect itself against programmers
who make careless mistakes
For more
http://www.onlineethics.org/Resources/Cases/killerrobot/a
rticle-6.aspx#abstract

2. DC 10 JUMBO JET

The cargo door of DC 10 Jumbo jet was developed by

Convair, a sub contractor for McDonnell Douglas.

So he reported to his senior engineer that the Cargo door

could burst open, leading to crash of the plane. Hence the
door has to be redesigned and the cabin floor has to
strengthened

Top Management at Convair neither disputed the technical

facts or the predictions made by Applegate. The liabilities
and the cost of redesign were to high.

Two years went by and In 1974 the cargo door of DC 10

Jumbo burst open and the jet crashed near Paris killing 346
Detail info @
http://www.airdisaster.com/special/special-thy981.shtml

3. CITICORP BUILDING
Structural Engineer Bill LeMessurier faced a big
design problem when he worked on the Citicorp
Centre, N.Y fifth highest skyscraper in New York.
The 900 feet bank would
rise from 9-storey (114)
This was because of a
corner of the plot
belonged toa church and
the church had to be accommodated there.
The building was completed in 1977. An
engineering
student like you questioned: what will happen

While LeMessurier designed welded joints, the contractor,

Bethlehem Steel changed them to bolted joints. Recalculation was
not done to check what the construction change would do.
Wind Tunnel Tests proved that the diagonal wind loading (with a
return
periodwas
of 16
years)
can leadHe
to considered
the failure of
critical
LeMessurier
deeply
troubled.
histhe
options
bolted joints and therefore the building.
Silence
Suicide
He explained the problem to his client Citicorp.

The building was strengthened by welding two-inch thick

steel plates over each of the 200 bolted joints. With only
welding half the number of bolts hurricane Ella was
threatening to strike the building. Luckily Ellas direction
changed.
NOTHING WAS HAPPENED LATER BUT THIS WAS HIDDEN

4. THE CHALLENGER
CASE
CHALLENGERS 8th flight was set up for 28th Jan 1986
Allan McDonald of Morton
Thiokol who designed the
solidrocket booster knew the
problems with the field joints on
previous cold weather joints. And
28th Jan was expected to be cold.
But no one gave response on that
and finally count down ended
at 11.38 AM. The temperature
was 36 degrees. The rocket broke
apart 73 seconds into its flight,
leading to the deaths of
its seven crew members

WHISTLE BLOWING
Whistle blowing is alerting relevant
persons
to some moral or legal corruption, where
Relevant persons are those in a
position to act in response
person who exposes misconduct, alleged
dishonest or illegal activity occurring in an
organization
No topic in Engineering ethics is more
controversial than
whistle blowing.

conclusion
When you leave this Lecture Hall today you
must leave with the knowledge and
conviction that you have a professional
and moral responsibility to yourselves and
to your fellow human beings to defend
the truth and expose any questionable
practice that will lead to an unsafe
product or process

References

http://classes.soe.ucsc.edu/cmpe080e/Spring1
0/Week%2001/Engineering%20Ethics%20&%20cases
.pdf
http://www.nec.gov.np/img/downloads/Code%20o
f%20Conduct.pdf
http://eeiccourses.engineering.osu.edu/sites/eei
ccourses.engineering.osu.edu/files/uploads/au201
3/1181/Class/Class03_Ethics/Ethics_Assigned_Case
s_Schedule6.pdf
http://www.bookspar.com/wp-content/uploads/vtu/
notes/1st-2nd-sem/cipe/Professional-ethics.pdf
www.nec.gov.np
http://www.airdisaster.com/special/specialthy981.shtml

THANK YOU