Introduction - If you take a college ethics class, chances are you'll be learning about philosophers and the abstract ideas. My purpose here is to discuss ethics in a much simpler, more pragmatic way. Many engineering societies, like the IEEE, have a "code of ethics", a set of high-level principles that engineers must follow. Generally, these principles are something like the following:
Care for the welfare of society
Communicate professional information honestly
Only perform work you are knowledgeable enough to complete safely
A number of different variations of these points could be included, but I generally view these as the guiding principles.
Care for the Welfare of Stakeholders - Engineers need to care about those affected by their work. This first point covers the moral aspects of being an engineer and is easily the most ambiguous. What one person may consider beneficial for society may not at all be something others do. Suppose you are building a large industrial facility near a residential area. The residents are protesting its construction, but the company behind the plant produces a life-saving product in short supply. How do you weigh the interests of the people at large who want the facility against those in the vicinity of the project you are actually building? There's no easy answer, but an engineer that cares for the welfare of society will consider the issue seriously. A total disregard for parties and a focus purely on selfish reasons like monetary incentives does not meet the criterion above.
Communicate Professional Information Honestly - Perhaps the most common issue engineers have to deal with is honesty. Engineers of all levels and disciplines possess unique knowledge that many others do not; this makes it easy to lie about design choices and not be called out for it. Non-engineers, and even other engineers of a different discipline, rely on engineers to be honest about their design choices, calculations, and communication with construction. Engineers are often urged to alter designs to reduce costs or improve schedules, but this can never come at the expense of technical compliance. Borrowing a line from my favorite superhero, "with great power comes great responsibility."
Only Perform Work You Are Knowledgeable Enough to Complete - Competency is a difficult thing to define. It's easy to say that electrical engineers shouldn't be doing hydrology work since this is a civil engineering function. But what about this scenario?: An electrical engineer who has previously only worked on residential projects is asked to design a high voltage switchyard. The project is still electrical, but is the engineer competent to perform the task? Once again, there's not a clear answer to this question. You, as the engineer, have to know your limits and ensure that projects that push your skillset are only undertaken with appropriate support from other qualified engineers. An engineer should never sign and seal a drawing set if they do not understand the design shown.
Conclusion - So how do you ensure that you're working ethically as an engineer? I think it's as simple as taking these criteria and reforming them as questions.
Are you considering the welfare of all stakeholders? Who is impacted negatively by the project and who is impacted positively? Is the negative impact too great?
Are you communicating honestly? Are you telling the truth? Have you intentionally omitted important information?
Do you know how to design this project? Have you done enough research to compensate for any unfamiliar topics? Do you have people you can reach out to if you encounter a problem?
If you're asking these question to yourself, you'll know the ethical implications of the choice you are making.
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