ASSIGNEMNT 1 Legal and Ethical Aspects of Engineering GEN1002 1
Case 10 : Gilbane Gold
David Jackson, a young engineer joins in the environmental affairs affairs department of ZCORP, located in the city of Gilbane. His firm, manufactures computer parts, but discharges lead and arsenic into the sanitary sewer of the city. The city has imposed highly restrictive regulations on the amount of arsenic and lead that can be discharged into the sanitary sewer system. However, recent tests indicate that ZCORP may be violating the standards. David believes that ZCORP must invest more money in pollution-control equipment, but management believes the costs will be prohibitive. David faces a conflict situation that can be characterized by the convergence of four important moral claims. Qa) Describe at-least four morally conflicting conflicting claims or obligations that that David is likely to experience. Ans – 1) The results of the previous analysis strongly suggest that David cannot continue to sign sign reports asserting that Z CORP is in compliance with city cit y regulations on thee discharge of heavy metals. In the light of David's knowledge of the results of the new test, t est, he would be guilty of deception with regard to the city. It is also unfair to him for Z CORP to ask him to jeopardize his license and perhaps even his professional career by forcing him to sign documents that he knows to be misleading. 2) David may well believe not only that continuing to to sign the documents would violate the ethical prohibitions against deception and fairness, but also that it would violate his positive obligation as an engineer to protect the health and safety of the public. While present discharge levels (even if slightly above regulations by the new test) may not constitute any severe health risk, the time will soon come when Z CORP will be discharging heavy metals in quantities that will be a threat to public health. Z CORP should begin negotiating with the city as soon as possible, and this negotiation must take place in an atmosphere of trust. This will be much more difficult if Z CORP is known to have engaged in deceptive reporting to the city. 3) David also has an obligation to Z CORP. He is an employee and therefore has an obligation to defend the company compan y insofar as ethical considerations will allow. His obligation is not only to defend the integrity of the company, but also to do what he can to insure that a marginally profitable plant survives economically. Furthermore, the cit y may well have been unfair to Z CORP in imposing the strict discharge standards after Z CORP had moved to Gilbane and an d without giving financial assistance to the company compan y in meeting the standards.
4) David has an obligation to the people of Gilbane as well. In addition to the obligation to protect their health and safety, he also has an obligation to do what he can to save a marginally profitable plant that employs thousands of local residents. Z CORP may not be the only plant that is in financial trouble. If the new test is required by city regulations and if the law is rewritten to prevent plants from being able to comply with the law merely by increasing their volume of discharge, other plants may face closure. David must try to meet the need of Gilbane citizens for jobs as well as their need for good health.
Qb) How can he do justice to all of these claims? AnsThere are many possible solutions, just as there are many possible solutions to a problem in engineering design. Some solutions are good, and others are bad, and there may be no single correct solution. David must engage in some brainstorming in order to act in the most creative and ethically responsible way. (1) Probably the most appealing option for David is to attempt an inexpensive technical solution to the problem. If the discharge of heavy metals can be reduced to acceptable amounts, even as measured by the new test, Z Corp.'s problems would be eliminated. If the amounts of heavy metals discharged with increased production can be reduced to a total amount no greater than present allowable discharges, even Z Corp.'s long-term problem will be resolved. It is David's responsibility as an employee and a professional engineer, as well as his responsibility to himself and his own career, to explore this avenue as thoroughly as possible. (2) Let us suppose that David finds that there is no inexpensive technical solution to the problem. One option open to him is to explain to his superiors why he believes that Z CORP should attempt to work out some accommodation with the city. He should come up with a specific recommendation for solving Z Corp.'s problem. While emphasizing that he does not want to usurp her management role, he might suggest to Diane that she could provide city officials with documentation that would verify her claims that Z CORP operates on a narrow profit margin and that there is no inexpensive solution to the problem of the discharge of heavy metals. He might also suggest that Diane talk to managers of other industries in the area. If they are experiencing similar problems, perhaps the managers could meet as a group with city officials and ask for additional tax relief. (3) Another option is for David to talk to officials of his professional society. This course of action was mentioned in the tape, but it was not pursued. It is not clear whether professional societies would be helpful: their record of supporting ethical professionals is not encouraging. At the very least, professional society officers might be able to offer a young engineer some helpful advice. (4) Another option for David is to make clear to Phil and Diane that he believes his professional integrity is on the line in this issue. He could say that, if he continues to sign the discharge reports, he is going to have to make it clear to city officials that Z CORP is
conforming to city regulations only by the old standards (if indeed it is), but not by the new standards. Unlike the other options, this is a type of insubordination, and it might cost him his job, but firing David in the present circumstances might be difficult for Z CORP.
Qc) What are some of the creative middle way possibilities? Ans(1) A possibility is for David to take his case directly to c orporate officers outside the Gilbane plant. This is a dangerous tactic in terms of his own career. Since his obligation to his own professional development is a real and completely legitimate one, he should not take this option if at all possible. (2) A more desirable option is to tell Phil and Diane that he has already been summoned to appear before city officials and that he is going to mention the results of the new tests. He should make it clear to Phil and Diane that his professional integrity and his concern for his own legal liability will not allow him to do anything else. At the same time, he should emphasize that he will try to represent Z CORP in a responsible manner and that he will tell city officials that Z CORP is in a difficult financial situation and that there is no inexpensive technical solution to the problem. (3) Still another possibility is to tell Phil and Diane that his professional integrity will no longer allow him to sign the discharge reports to the city. He should make such a statement without a self-righteous tone and in as non-confrontational a manner as possible. He should probably make it clear that, at least at the present time, he will not make any attempt to go public and that he will make every effort to continue to be a loyal employee. He should also say that he may not be able to keep the matter within the company, because city officials already want to talk to him. He should also emphasize that the problem is only going to get worse for Z CORP. The new production will only increase the discharge of toxic materials. Even if Z CORP is able to fulfill the technical requirements of the law by increasing the volume of discharge, the public is already aware of the problem, and the law will probably be changed. He should use all of his powers of persuasion to argue that firing him or refusing to face the problem will make matters worse for Z CORP. Qd) What attitude toward responsibility was exhibited by David J ackson? Ans - David is an young engineer whose measurements show that Z-Corp's emissions into the Gilbane water supply barely exceed local standards. He expresses concern to his supervisors on the impact on the safety and health of the local community. He further shows the qualities of fairness, trust, Responsibility and Respect.
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CASE 16: HURRICANE KATRINA
Supportive corporate responses to the Katrina hurricane that came in Sep 2005 were swift. A $312 million worth of aid had been donated by major corporations, much of it by those with no plants or businesses in the afflicted areas. Engineers have played a prominent role in these relief efforts, as they did after the 9/11 Twin Towers attack and in the Asian tsunami disaster. Qa) Discuss how, with corporate backing, engineers who subscribe to Fred Cuny’s ideas about effective disaster relief might approach the engineering challenges of Katrina?
Ans – Question Incomplete. Qb) American Society Civil Engineers (ASCE) report on Hurricane Katrina emphasized on Engineering Failures. List at-least 4 of the identified failures. AnsFrom an engineering standpoint, the panel asserts, 1. There was an underestimation of soil strength that rendered the levees more vulnerable than they should have been. 2. A failure to satisfy standard factors of safetyin the original designs of the levees and pumps. 3. A failure to determine and communicate clearly to thepublic the level of hurricane risk to which the city and its residents were exposed. Qc) List four critical actions as recommended by ASCE in such disaster relief measures. Ans – 1. 2. 3. 4.
Improve the understanding of risk and firmly Commit to safety. Repair the hurricane protection system. Reorganize the management of the hurricane protection system. Insist on engineering quality.
Case – 8: Electric Chair
Kemmler was not only the first person to be executed in an electric chair but he was also the first person whose execution by electricity required more than one application of current, the second of which caused vapor and smoke to be emitted from Kemmler’s body. Witnesses were dismayed by what they saw, with one physician commenting that using an electric chair ‘‘can in no way be regarded as a step in civilization.” Thomas Edision was also summoned to share his knowledge and recommendations on Electric Chairs. Qa) Why is Prof.Theodore Bernstein, retired University of Wisconsin professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, thanked for the apparent disappearance of the electric chair execution mechanism.
Ans – Bernstein studied of the use of electric chairs for years and his findings prove that their use in executing someone is utterly inhumane. To add to that his legal fight to make to ban the use of electric chairs helped to stop this practice. That is the reason for which he is thanked for the apparent disappearance of the electric chair execution mechanism. b) Discuss the ethical issues surrounding Theodore Bernstein’s chosen area of research and his role as a witness in the courtroom and legal hearings.
Ans – Theodore Bernstein’s chosen area of research and his role as a witness in the courtroom and legal hearings had lots of ethical issues surrounding it were, 1) Was his fight going to make the law and order too small in the eyes victims because he was in a wat helping the criminals. 2) His fight could have made the punishment too soft for the criminals who cimmited heinous crimes. Qc) What were Thomas Edison’s views on electric Chairs and what were the consequences of his recommendation?
Thomas Edison recommended the AC system for the electric chair. Not wanting his company’s reputation to be tied to the electric chair. Later when he was proved wrongas Edison admitted that he knew little about the structure of the human body or conductivity in the brain, Edison’s claims carried the day. According to Bernstein, Edison’s ‘‘reputation made more of an impression than did his bioelectrical ignorance.’’ 4
CASE – 7, DISASTER RELIEF
Fredrick C. Cuny attended engineering school, but he never received his degree in engineering due to poor grades. In his early twenties, however, he learned how to conduct disaster relief in such a way that the victims could recover enough to help themselves. At age 27, he founded the Interact Relief and Reconstruction Corporation. He was soon working in Biafra helping to organize an airlift to rescue Biafrans after a war. Later, he organized relief efforts, involving engineering work, in Bosnia after the war and in Iraq after Operation Desert Storm. When his work in Iraq was completed, the Kurds held a farewell celebration. Cuny was the only civilian in a parade with the Marines with whom he had worked. Cuny’s efforts are considered as an example of aspirational ethics. Give another example to demonstrate aspirational ethics?
Ans – Another example of aspirational ethics are Engineers Without Borders. Engineers Without Borders is an international organization for engineering professionals and engineering students who want to use theirprofessional expertise to promote humanwelfare. Engineering students from theUniversity of Arizona chapter are working on
a water supply and purification projectin the village of MafiZongo, Ghana, West Africa. The project will supply 30 or morevillages, with approximately 10,000 people, with safe drinking water. In anotherproject, engineering students from the University of Colorado installed a watersystem in Muramka, a Rwandan village. The system provides villagers with up to7000 liters of safe water for everyday use. The system consists of a gravity-fed settling tank, rapid sand filters, and a solar-powered sanitation light. 5
Often, moral disagreements turn out to be disagreements over the relevant facts. Imagine a conversation between two engineers, Tom and Jim, that might have taken place shortly before OSHA issued its May 1977 directive that worker exposure to benzene emissions be reduced from 10 to 1 ppm. Their conversation might have proceeded as follows: Tom: I hear OSHA is about to issue stricter regulations regarding worker exposure to benzene. Oh, boy, here we go again. Complying with the new regulations is going to cost our company several million dollars. It’s all well and good for the bureaucrats in Washington to make rules, as long as they don’t have to pay the bills. I think OSHA is just irresponsible! Jim: But Tom, human life is at stake. You know the dangers of benzene. Would you want to be out in the area where benzene exposure is an issue? Would you want your son or your daughter to be subjected to exposures higher than 1 ppm? Tom: I wouldn’t have any problem at all. There is just no scientific evidence that exposure to benzene below 10 ppm has any harmful effect.
Qa) Factual issues are sometimes very difficult to resolve. How can this debate between Jim and Tom be resolved? AnsIt is particularly important for engineering students to understand that many apparent moral disagreements are reducible to disagreements over factual (in many cases technical) matters. The dispute between Tom and Jim could be easy to resolve. If Jim reads the literature that has convinced Tom that there is no scientific evidence that exposure to benzene below 10 ppm has harmful effects, they might agree that OSHA plans go too far. Often, however, factual issues are not easily resolved. Sometimes, after a debate over issues in professional ethics, students come away with an attitude that might be stated as follows: ‘‘Well, here was anothe r dispute about ethics in which nobody could agree. I’m glad that I’m in engine ering, where everything depends on the facts that everybody can agree on. Ethics is just too subjective.’’ But the dispute may pivot more around the difficulty of determining factual matters than any disagreement about moral values as such. Sometimes the information we need is simply not available now, and it is difficult to imagine how it could be available soon, if at all
Qb) Does this discussion surface around acceptable risk? If yes, explain in the context of
acceptable risk?. Ans- No, this discussion does not surface around acceptable risk Qc) Suggest a possible dis-agreement between Tom and Jim that might illustrates the importance of some of the conceptual considerations that can arise in the context of apparent moral disagreement: AnsOften, moral disagreements turn out to be disagreements over the relevant facts. Imagine a conversation between two engineers, Tom and Jim, that might have taken place shortly before OSHA issued its May 1977 directive that worker exposure to benzene emissions be reduced from 10 to 1 ppm. 6
Why should students take a course in Professional Ethics? AnsI think that ethics should be taught to undergraduate students. With the rapid advances in technology and its applications which affects the human being and the environment, this course became an essential tool. At our university the course of bioethics is mandatory for all health faculties. And we are planning to make it mandatory for all university students
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How can science and technology studies (STS) and the philosophy of technology be integrated into engineering ethics? AnsThe general relevance of these two fields to engineering ethics is obvious: They both deal with the nature of technology and its relationship to society. Determining the precise nature of this relevance, however, has not been easy. STS is a descriptive, empirically oriented field, having its origins in sociology and history. STS researchers have not for the most part explored the ethical implications of their work. The philosophy of technology is more normatively oriented, but the exploration of its implications for engineering ethics has barely begun. In Chapter 5, we suggest some implications of these areas for engineering ethics in a way that we hope will be provocative for instructors and students alike. We especially welcome comments, criticisms, and suggestions on our work h ere.
8 CASE -27 PINTO
In late1960s, reports of explosions in low-speed collisions involving Ford Pintos struck from the rear started to come in to the National Highway Safety and Transportation Administration. Accident investigations in many of the cases revealed that victims had few, if any, trauma injuries as a result of the impacts, but had burned to death when the cars exploded into flames. Some had been trapped inside the cars due to the body buckling and doors becoming jammed shut. Ford contended that it met all applicable federal safety standards issued by federal government. $200,000 was estimated social cost of death
accounted by a survey study carried out by NHTSA. a) Discuss the appropriateness of using this data in Ford's decision regarding whether or not to make a safety improvement in its engineering design? AnsSome Ford engineers urged that a protective buffer should be inserted between the gas tank and protruding bolts. This, they contended, would enable the Pinto to pass a more demanding standard that it was known would soon be imposed on newer vehicles. They warned that without the buffer, the Pinto would fail to satisfy the new standard, a standard that they believed would come much closer to meeting the standard of care enforced in tort law. Ford decided not to put in the buffer. It might have been thought that satisfying the current safety standard ensured that courts and their juries would agree that reasonable care was exercised. However, this turned out to be a mistaken view. As noted previously, the courts can determine that existing technical standards are not adequate, and engineers are sometimes called upon to testify to that effect. b) If you believe it is not appropriate, what would you suggest as an alternative? AnsIndividuals can be responsible for harm byintentionally, recklessly, or negligently causing harm. Some argue that individuals cannot be responsible for harm in situations in which many individuals have contributed to the harm, but we can proportion responsibility to the degree to which an individual’s action or inaction is responsible for the harm. There are many impediments to the kind of discernment and judgment that responsible engineering practice requires. Self-interest, fear, self-deception, ignorance, egocentric tendencies, microscopic vision, uncritical acceptance of authority, and groupthink are commonplace and require special vigilance if engineers are to resist them. c) What responsibilities do you think engineers have in situations like this? AnsThe main responsibility of engineers is to gather full and reliable information about the specific situation. The second is to view engineering plans and projects in context, taking into account impacts on workers, the needs of workers, systems of transportation and communication, resources needed, resource accessibility, economic feasibility, Impacts on users and on other affected parties, such as people who live downward. 9
CASE 6- CITICORP
Citicorp building in downtown Manhattan was designed by William LeMessurier in 1977. A church had property rights to a corner of the block on which the 59-story building was to be constructed. LeMessurier proposed constructing the building over the church, with four supporting columns located at the center of each side of the building rather than in the four corners. According to LeMessurier his innovative design made the building more resistant to quartering, or diagonal, winds, as required by New York City Building code. But,
LeMessurier soon learned that the joints in the building were bolted and not full penetration welded. He wondered what difference bolted joints might make to the building’s ability to withstand quartering winds. LeMessurier was shock ed when his calculations showed that with bolted joints the building was having a 40 percent stress increase in some areas of the structure which resulted in a 160 percent increase in stress on some of the building’s joints making it vulnerable to a total collapse if certain areas were subjected to a ‘‘16-year storm’’. a) What course of action was undertaken by LeMessurier after realizing how vulnerable Citicorp building was to 16 year storm? AnsLeMessurier realized that reporting what he had learned could place both his engineering reputation and the financial status of his firm at substantial risk. Nevertheless, he acted quickly and decisively. He drew up a plan for correcting the problem, estimated the cost and time needed for rectifying it, and immediately informed Citicorp owners of what he had learned. Citicorp’s response was equally decisive LeMessurier’s proposed course of action was accepted and corrective steps were immediately undertaken. b) Though,LeMessurier initial design satisfied the New York building codes, what encouraged him to acknowledge the limitations and mistakes of his design? How are you inspired by his exemplary service as an Engineer? AnsWilliam LeMessurier designed the building’s main load -carrying steel structure to a codespecified worst-case wind condition that was incorrect. Fortunately, LeMessurier recognized the error in the code and modified the already built structure to correct for it. The codes were subsequently corrected. Building codes are one of the aspects of public policy that both directly affect engineers and most clearly require information from engineers in their formulation. They illustrate one of the most concrete and specific ways in which engineering expertise is needed in the formulation of public policy and in which public policy in turn vitally affects engineering design. 10
If we distinguish between an occupation, which is simply a way to make a living, and a profession, then how a transition from a ‘‘mere’’ occupation to a profession (or an occupation that has professional status) is accomplished? AnsIf we distinguish between an occupation, which is simply a way to make a living, and a profession, the question is how a transition from a ‘‘mere’’ occupation to a pr ofession (or an occupation that has professional status) is accomplished. The answer is to be found in a series of characteristics that are marks of professional status. Although probably no profession has all of these characteristics to the highest degree possible, the more characteristics anoccupation has, the more secure it is in its professional status. 1. Extensive training
2. 3. 4. 5.
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Vital knowledge and skills Control of services Autonomy in the workplace Claim to ethical regulation
Describe why a Profession is considered as an example of social practice? AnsA profession is an example of a social practice. Without following the ideas of MacIntyre or others completely, perhaps wecan say the following about a social practice. First, every social practice has one or more aims or goods that are especially associated with it or ‘‘internal’’ to it. For example, m edicine (along, of course, with nursing, pharmacy, osteopathy, and the like) aims at the health of patients. One of the aims of law is justice. A practice may also produce other goods, such as money, social prestige, and power, but it is these goods especially associated with the practice that interest us here and that are especially related to its moral legitimacy. Second, a social practice is inconceivablewithout this distinctive aim. We cannot imagine medicine apart from the aim of producing health or law without the aim of producing justice. Third, the aims of a social practice must be morally justifiableaims. Both health and justice are morally praiseworthy aims. Fourth, the distinctive aim of a social practice provides a moralcriterion for evaluating the behavior of those who participate in the social practice and for resolving moral issues that might arise in the practice. Although people will differ about how the term is to be defined, if a medical practice does not promote ‘‘health,’’ we might wonder about its moral legitimacy as a medical practice.
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Highlight the several features that Davis believes are important in the concept of professionalism. Ans1. A profession cannot be composed of only one person. It is always composed of a number of individuals. 2. A profession involves a public element. One must openly ‘‘profess’’ to be a physician or attorney, much as the dictionary accounts of the term ‘‘profession’’ suggest. 3. A profession is a way people earn a living and is usually something that occupies them during their working hours. A profession is still an occupation (a way of earning a living) even if the occupation enjoys professional status. 4. A profession is something that people enter into voluntarily and that they can leave voluntarily. 5. Much like advocates of the social practice approach, Davis believes that a profession must serve some morally praiseworthy goal, although this goal may not be unique to a given profession. Physicians cure the sick and comfort the dying. Lawyers help people obtain justice within the law. 6. Professionals must pursue a morally praiseworthy goal by morally permissible means. For example, medicine cannot pursue the goal of health by cruel experimentation or by deception or coercion.
7. Ethical standards in a profession should obligate professionals to act in some way that goes beyond what law, market, morality, and public opinion would otherwise require. Physicians have an obligation to help people (their patients) be healthy in a way that nonphysicians do not, and attorneys have an obligation to help people (their clients) achieve justice that the rest of us do not. 13
Although engineering may not, by some definitions, be a paradigmatic profession in the same way that medicine and perhaps law are, it does have professional status by Davis’ definition. Justify. AnsFrom the sociological standpoint, a principal factor standing in the way of full professional status is the fact that in the United States a license is not required to practice engineering. From the standpoint of professional ethics, however,one of the crucial issues in professionalism is a genuine commitment to ethical ideals. Ethical ideals must not be merely a smoke screen for getting the public to trust professionals and impose only minimal regulation but also realized in daily practice.
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Both Business and Professional model suggest that professions are primarily motivated by economic self-interest and by genuine ethical commitment. Engineers should adopt the professional model, as ethical component is of central importance in engineering professionalism. Ans – No question specified.
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CASE 22- LOVE CANAL
Due to financial crisis William Love could not transform his business ventures with a canal in Niagara falls, which was later used as a swimming hole and ice rink by local residents. In 1947 Hooker Chemicals and Plastics leased the canal as a waste dump where more that 21,000 tons of chemicals such as benzene were disposed. Hooker installed an impermeable cap to prevent water from draining the toxins to other areas. When the local school board needed to build a new school, Hooker sold off the canal to get rid of it in 1953. A school and more than 1000 homes were built in the canal and its vicinity. In 1958 three school children were reported with chemical burns due to toxins that surfaced the canal. Love canal soon became the first hazardous waste site to be featured in TV channels. Qa) What are the significant questions of ethics and values raised by this case? AnsSome of the significant ethical questions which arise in this case are: 1. Is it reasonable to demand that the ethical duty of public officials is to respond to an environmental problem by objectively examining the scientific facts and the potential hazards to local residents, independent of economic and political considerations? 2. Do you think that there might be an ethical justification for such public agencies to
refuse publicaccess to such information? If so, does this seem toapply to the Love Canal situation? 3. Inwhat respects might these value differences leadthem to conflicting decisions about what shouldhave been done in response to the Love Canal disasterand how to do it? 4. What other steps mightbe taken to promote environmental equity in anethical manner?
Qc) Discuss the types of responsibilities that engineers have in regard to the prevention of hazards such as this from occurring in the future. AnsAlthough there is no explicit mention of engineers in this case study, it is not difficult to imagine that engineers, too, were involved in the events resulting in the creation of the Love Canal hazard, as well as in the cleanup. It is the moral responsibility of engineers to make sure that any technical plans by their company are completely safe for the common people. As engineers it is their main role to make sure that none of the actions of the organization leads to the harm of environment or nature. If there is any loop hole in their design or plans it is their main and foremost responsibility to improve the design and make it fool proof. Qd) What, if any, public roles might they play in helping the public understand what is at stake and how the issues should be addressed? AnsPublic role is very important in cases like this. The public should always stay informed and alert about things happening in their surroundings. This will help the take preventive steps in case of mishaps. Apart from this proper knowledge of cases like this will help the public stop any practices if they think that they are harmful for them, either by complaints or protests.
