What are Ethics?
Ethics are a code by which everyone lives by, engineer or not. They are the driving force behind making the decision that society views as "right". I put quotations around right because ethics are very often hotly debated and sometimes there can be no clear answer to the situation. You make minor ethical decisions everyday whether you realize it or not. Lying and cheating are good examples of ethics, and the right decisions are always obvious here. Subjects such as abortion on the other hand, have no clear answer. As you can see, ethics play a major role in life.
Ethics in Engineering
Ethics play a major role in engineering. Very often, engineers design things that impact people's lives. Whether it be a building, a bridge, a car, an airplane, or something else, lives are at stake. For this reason alone, ethics are very important for engineers. In this post, I will explain one ethical situation and provide my opinion on the right ethical decision.
Let's say that you are an engineer and you have a client that wants a product designed and he/she has a very specific set of requirements for you. Following the client's requirements, you design the product and to the best of your knowledge, made it as safe as possible. When you submit your design to the client, the client rejects it because it is too expensive and he/she wants you to make the design simpler. You believe that if you make the design simpler, it will become a safety hazard. Do you follow the wishes of the client and make it simpler, or do you stick to your guns and keep the same design? Lets start by weighing each option and the potential consequences of each decision.
If you decide to stick to your guns and keep the design original, you may lose the job and the client forever. The client may seek out another engineering firm to complete their product. You may experience a little bad word of mouth by the client because you were too expensive for them. Initially, this looks like a worse decision than the first one. However, these effects are not as bad as they seem. Many companies receive bad advertising and are still in business. You would succeed as an engineer and you would never have to worry about making a bad product. You would be able to sleep easy at night and you would never carry any guilt. You would retain your engineering license and would be able to continue on as a company. This is the clear choice in this ethical issue because you have the potential to harm no one.
A Good, Bad Example
An example of the first choice gone wrong is the Hyatt Regency Hotel tragedy that occurred in Kansas City, Missouri in 1981. A walkway collapsed and killed 114 people and injured another 200. It was caused by a design change that was influenced by time and money. The original design called for two walkways, one directly above the other, to be hung from the ceiling by a single rod. The design was considered impractical by the builders, so a substitute was issued via phone (Mungers). The substitute design called for a double rod system, which upon closer examination, doubled the load that was applied to the upper supporting rod. The rod could simply not withstand the amount of weight that was on it the night it collapsed. After an investigation and trial, the engineers who signed off on the design lost their licenses and the firm was banned from practicing engineering ever again. These are hefty consequences that could have been avoided.
References
Mungers, Paul. "The Hyatt Regency Walkway Collapse." A Question of Ethics. American Society of Civil Engineers, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.
One would think that there isn't companies out there that would risk the safety of the public to save some money, but as you showed in the example, sometimes this is the case. That is why there are industries standards, and safety regulations for designing structures so that the safety of the public isn't determined by how much money a company can save.
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