Ethical constraints and considerations in engineering practice

Engineering Ethics

Ethics in the Study and Practice of Engineering: Pragmatic and Intrinsic Values in Science and Application

As the world becomes increasingly interconnected and interdependent, issues of ethics and ethical missteps have become increasingly common and prominent in the media and in terms of public attention. The worldwide financial crisis is one example of how ethically questionable and/or ethically suspect decisions and behaviors can directly and negatively impact society with international rather than simply localized results. There are many other areas of human endeavors in which poor ethical decisions and behavioral trends have an equal if not greater potential for causing harm to communities, societies, and civilization as a whole, and indeed the issue of ethicality in practice and application is arguably more necessary for consideration in the modern era than at any other time in human history due to the extremity and long reach that the effects of poor ethical decisions have today.

Engineering is not a field in which the general public might immediately see a host of potential ethical problems. In the financial, political, and medical fields, there are clear and obvious ethical issues that practitioners must contend with in a codified manner generally well-known to the public. Here, many ethical breeches are quite obvious and unquestionable when they are brought to light. In engineering, however, many ethical considerations occupy more of a grey area, and they are less obvious both to the public and often to the professionals and practitioners in the engineering field. This can be a source of serious problems.

There are both directly pragmatic as well as more intrinsic ethical issues that lie at the heart of engineering practice and even the study of engineering theories and practices. This paper will examine many of the ethical constraints and considerations that must be accounted for in the general field of engineering, and will also comment briefly on current trends in the recognition and definition of ethical problems in the engineering field. Through an examination of published codes of ethics, scholarly investigations and discussions on the subject, and a look at several case studies, the ethics of engineering will be fully explored and comprehensively examined in a manner that provides clear, concise, and explicit knowledge of the engineering ethics. Though of course this discussion cannot examine ever facet of engineering ethics in this paper's limited space, examination from several angles and through the utilization of various sources will provide an accurate broad view of the issues.

Pragmatic Problems

While ethicality is often seen as a primarily intrinsic aspect of human behavior and decision making, there are also many direct external and practical issues involving engineering decisions that have ethical implications. This can be seen in a variety of ways, from the actual use and application of a specific engineering theory or project as well as through the actual realities and vicissitudes of how engineering projects actually some about. To put this perhaps more clearly, pragmatic ethical issues exist both in the scientific as well as the interpersonal development of engineering projects, and an awareness of these issues is essential.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) code of ethics includes a provision insisting on not only the early detection of problems but also specifically of dealing with problems in any project at the lowest managerial level possible (IEEE 1996). This has a direct pragmatic purpose, as it leads to the more efficient progression of engineering projects, and a proper use of resources (including time and human resources), in addition to creating a greater sense of personal responsibility for and commitment to specific engineering projects (IEEE 1996). Adhering to a managerial chain of command also ensures that the values and systems put into place as a part of the project parameters will be adhered to, such that the best interests of the engineering client as defined by that client are adhered to (IEEE 1996). This is only one example of the interpersonal pragmatic ethical considerations that must be accounted for in a given engineering project.

Other pragmatic ethical concerns in engineering beyond interpersonal and managerial issues can be found in design aspects of engineering projects. A reasonable standard of care is necessary in all engineering projects to minimize the risk of failure for the client (Harris et al. 2009). This is one of the most basic ethical obligations for engineers; extreme instances such as bridge failures based on inadequate design and/or research clearly demonstrate the need for a proper ethical consideration of design elements in engineering projects. Even in more subtle cases, risks to personal safety and to productivity and profitability exist for almost any engineering project, necessitating a careful consideration of design factors (Harris et al. 2009).

The pragmatic ethics that are inherent to most engineering projects are a simple matter of achieving the greatest possible efficacy and efficiency in the given project. In other words, pragmatic ethical success in engineering can be equated to success in the actual goals of the engineering project -- doing the job in the best manner possible, including in terms of cost effectiveness, public safety, and abiding by the internal rules and structures of the organization engaged in the engineering project means performing ethically well in the pragmatic sense. The fact that this is an ethical imperative in addition to a mere practical concern is reflective of the context in which most engineering projects and applications occur, namely that there are many stakeholders dependent on the successful outcome of any engineering endeavor, and that they are not typically ends in and of themselves.

Case Examples

One of the best ways to examine the implications and impacts of ethics in the engineering field is to examine certain real-world case studies that exemplify ethical problems in engineering and the ways in which they were addressed by engineers and by society at large (often in the form of the government). Legal entanglements are almost exclusively the result of negative practical effects resulting from poor ethical decisions, or a misstep in one of the pragmatic areas of ethics, and most often involve a general failure in an engineering project due to neglect, negligence, or even ignorance one the part of engineers. There are thus certain similarities in many engineering ethics case studies, and these similarities can be observed in the following two case studies despite the significant differences.

In one well-known case, a series of spills, mishaps, and basic mishandlings of a variety of hazardous and toxic materials at the Aberdeen proving grounds, a facility operated by the U.S. Army, resulted in the convictions of three engineers that were also acting as managers of the facility (Harris et al. 2009). The guilt of these three engineers was based both on their knowledge of the conditions at the Aberdeen facility as well as their knowledge of the proper care and handling methods and practices necessary for the materials in question, meaning that the responsibility was directly and legitimately traced by the judge in the case according to the knowledge of the individuals being tried (Harris et al. 2009). This gives a strong idea of where the ethical onus lies in the practice of engineering.

Another rather more expansive case study can be derived form the current state of bridges in the United States, and the general state of disrepair of many bridges that are still n regular heavy use (Harris et al. 2009). A rating system has been developed that determines when a bridge should be put out of commission, but it is not especially definitive in terms of assessing load restrictions or mandating repairs prior to continued use, and thus is largely ineffective in much of what it aims to accomplish (Harris et al. 2009). While also ultimately an issue of the failure of an engineering project in its pragmatic intents, this case is considerably different to that of the Aberdeen incident in terms of the degree and type of responsibility borne by engineers. It is not simply a matter of legal negligence, but of true watchfulness and an application of engineering knowledge and theory for the protection of the public interest -- in terms of life and in terms of cost -- that guides ethical practice in the design and application of engineering projects and control systems.

Conclusion

There are, of course, many other cases that could be used to illustrate the ethical considerations that engineers must face in the study and practice of their field. Ethics come into play in most human activities and decisions, and endeavors as important as those undertaken in the engineering field are certainly no exception. The above paper has attempted to impart a broad view of the ethical issues that affect engineering practice, with a mention of the different perspectives and concerns that are a part of this practice.