Engineering Ethics: Case Studies and Dilemmas

Engineering Ethics Topics

• Ethical aspects of engineering practice
• Overview of moral philosophy
• Ethical theories and dilemmas
• Ethical dilemmas of engineers in industry in a case study
• Engineering code of ethics
• Decision-making process for ethical dilemmas
• Conflict of interest

Academic Integrity

• Academic integrity is a concern in engineering programs

U. of Regina Cheating Incident

• A significant number of engineering students at the University of Regina were suspected of cheating during a law and ethics exam.

Radiohead Stage Collapse

• A stage collapsed during setup for a Radiohead concert at Downsview Park on June 16, 2012
• 20,000 people were expected to attend
• Scott Johnson, a stage technician, died
• 3 others were injured
• Ontario's Ministry of Labour filed charges under Ontario Health and Safety Laws
• 4 charges against Live Nation Canada
• 4 against scaffolder Optex Staging & Services
• 1 against the independent engineer Domenic Cugliari
• Optex claimed the stage had been built 24 times previously in the late 80s and early 90s
• Radiohead's equipment weighed 34,000+ kg, exceeding previous usage and crushing the roof trusses
• The investigation concluded the weight was miscalculated and construction did not adhere to the design
• Pick-up trusses failed which should have held the stage roof and lighting
• Charges were thrown out in 2017 because it took too long to go to court after 5+ years
• A 2019 inquest proposed 28 non-binding recommendations
• November 2020, PEO found Domenic Cugliari guilty of professional misconduct for improperly reviewing stage construction, and his license was revoked
• The company authorizing the construction was fined $5,000
• If convicted, the maximum fine against a corporation is $500,000 per charge
• An individual can be fined $25,000 per charge and face up to a year in prison

Ethics in Practice

• Governed by society's moral principles and values
• Sometimes described as the science of morals
• Studies right and wrong, obligations, rights, justice, and societal ideas
• Laws are based on written statutes or court decisions
• Lawful actions are not always ethical

Ethical Theories

• Western ethical theories exist in many cultures
• Mill's utilitarianism, actions are ethically correct if it produces the greatest benefit for the greatest amount of people
• Kant's Duty Based Ethics, duty to follow those courses of action that would be acceptable as universal principles for everyone to follow
• Locke's Rights Based Ethics, all individuals are free and equal, and each has a right to life, health, liberty, possessions, and the products of his or her labour
• Aristotle's Virtue Based Ethics, happiness is achieved by developing virtues, or qualities of character, through deduction and reason, an act is good if it is in accordance with reason.

Mill's Utilitarianism - John Stuart Mill 1806-1873

• Best solution produces the maximum benefit for the greatest number of people in any ethical problem
• Democratic government is a form of utilitarianism since democracy controls government to benefit the majority of voters
• The difficulty arises in calculating the 'maximum benefit'
• Three key factors to determine maximum benefits
• Number of people affected
• Intensity of the benefit
• Duration of the benefit or severity/duration of pain avoided
• Examples include seatbelts, anti-smoking campaigns, and taxation

Utilitarianism Conflict

• A conflict of interest may arise when evaluating the benefits, or when distributing them equally
• Benefits must not favour special groups or an individual for their personal gain

Utilitarianism Example

• Metrolinx used approximately $500 million of tax payers money to build the Union-Pearson rail link.
• Pros: quick link to the airport, reduce the number of cars on the road as ridership is 3.5 million
• Cons: increased diesel rail traffic for those living in the Junction & Weston areas

Kant's Duty Ethics (Formalism) - Immanuel Kant 1724-1804

• Each person has a fundamental duty to act in a correct ethical manner
• Conscience imposes an absolute "categorical imperative"
• A person must follow courses of action that would be acceptable as universal principles for everyone
• Universal principles include don't lie, keep promises, be honest, be fair, obey the law, and don't hurt others
• Formalism condemns water or air pollution as unethical and any activity that endangers life
• Everyone has an individual duty to prevent harm to human life and to consider the welfare of society to be paramount

Duty Ethics (Formalism) Conflict

• Emphasis on the intention to do one's duty is significant, not the actual results
• Conflict can arise when following universal principles, where the complexities of human moral decision making aren't considered
• Problems with duty ethics relate to its inflexibility
• Duties based on the categorical imperative never have exceptions
• Everyone has an individual duty to prevent harm to human life and consider the welfare of society to be paramount

Locke's Rights Based Ethics - John Locke, 1632-1704

• Each human being has the following fundamental rights
• Life
• Maximum possible individual liberty
• Human dignity
• All other rights flow from the above three fundamental rights
• His writings had a significant effect on British political thought in the late 1600s
• Impacted the French and American revolutions
• Basic human rights are embedded in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the U.S. Constitution
• Each individual's rights are basic, other people have a duty not to infringe on those rights
• Under this theory, workers have the right to a working environment that is free of sexual harassment along with being safe and healthy
• Rights are generally entrenched in provincial labour laws
• Rights-based arguments cover a large spectrum
• Some rights are indisputable and embedded in law while others fall into a grey area like smoking or personal taxes
• Theory is not sufficient to deal with every situation

Locke's Rights Ethics: Conflict

• All individuals are free and equal, and each has a right to life, health, liberty, possessions and the products of his or her labour
• It is difficult to determine when one person's rights infringe on another person's rights
• Example, do you have the right to post anything you want on the internet (right of personal liberty)?

Aristotle's Virtue Based Ethics - Aristotle, 384-322 B.C.

• The goal is to live a life informed by thought, reason, deduction & logic (the virtues)
• Virtues are evidenced by moderate compromises between the two extremes of excess and deficiency
• Desired virtues are defined by the "golden mean," or a moderate compromise between the two extremes of excess and deficiency
• 'Golden mean' concept is extremely useful in solving ethical problems by considering the extremes and seeking the compromise
• Examples include generosity is the golden mean between wastefulness and stinginess
• Courage is the golden mean between foolhardiness and cowardice
• Modesty is the golden mean between vanity and self-deprecating humility
• Difficulty arises in defining the golden mean for some attributes like honesty, integrity, or fairness

Aristotle's Virtue Ethics: Conflict

• Happiness is achieved by developing virtues, or qualities of character through deduction and reason, this results in the golden mean

Agreement and Contradictions in Ethical Theories

• The 4 theories agree completely in many applications
• Sometimes the theories contradict each other with each theory yielding its own unique answer to the same problem
• Contradictory ethical problems are a dilemma
• Requires a person to choose between two opposing courses of action

Example of an Ethical Dilemma

• You work for the city as an engineer
• Your colleague and friend in the department, Smith, has a problem
• Smith often drinks to excess after work so he comes into the office hung over and not too productive
• You can usually cover for him, however, you suspect there may be mistakes he has made in his work
• A situation arises where there is a work issue that you caught and if you hadn't it could have had ramifications for the public and the services your dept provides

Applying the 4 Ethical Theories to Such a Dilemma

• Mill's Utilitarianism
• Balance of harm to Smith's career to the harm to the city and public
• The greatest good would be to intervene to provide the most benefit to the greatest numbers
• Kant's Duty
• A duty to both your friend, Smith, and a duty to public safety
• You must insist that Smith gets help or report the problem to your managers
• Locke's Rights
• Smith has a right to privacy and his drinking is a private matter meaning you have no right to discuss it with anyone
• Aristotle Virtues
• Virtue based theory means alcohol abuse would be considered undesirable
• Golden mean would dictate drinking only in moderation
• Out of the 4 theories, 3 indicate some sort of intervention

Engineering Code of Ethics - General Principles

• Duty to Society
• Duty to Employers
• Duty to Clients
• Duty to Colleagues
• Duty to Employees and Subordinates
• Duty to the Profession
• Duty to Oneself

Engineering Code of Ethics - Details

• Duty to society is the most important
• Duty to protect the safety, health, and welfare of anyone affected by their work
• Canadian Engineers have professional self-regulation
• Duty to employers
• Must act fairly and loyally to the employer
• Must keep the employer's business confidential
• Disclose any conflict of interest
• Duty to clients
• Same obligations to clients as an employee has to the employer
• Duty to colleagues
• Must act with courtesy and good will toward colleagues
• Fellow professionals must be informed whenever their work is reviewed
• Duty to employees and subordinates
• Must recognize the rights of others, especially employees or subordinates
• Duty to the profession
• Must maintain the dignity and prestige of the profession
• Must avoid unprofessional, dishonourable, or disgraceful conduct
• Duty to oneself
• Must insist on adequate payment, a satisfactory work environment, and all rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedom
• Maintain personal competence in the rapidly changing technical world

PEO Code of Ethics Section 77

• Includes duty to associate, employers, clients, subordinates, employees;
• Fidelity to public needs; devotion to ideals of honour and integrity;
• A duty to regard the practitioner's duty to public welfare as paramount
• To enhance the public regard for professional engineering, you must extend public knowledge, and discourage untrue statements.
• If you are an employee-engineer, provide the client with a written statement

Decision Process for Ethical Dilemmas

• The strategy can be similar to solving design problems
• Recognize the problem and gather information
• Define the ethical problem
• Generate alternative solutions (synthesis)
• Evaluate alternative solutions (analysis)
• Making decisions and optimization (or re-define the problem and repeat the process)
• Implement the solution

Recognize the Problem and Gather Information

• Ethical problems are usually vague and hard to recognize
• You are responsible for your work's safety and its impacts
• Ask who/what/where/when/why/how questions such as: Who are involved? What type of harm? Where was safety compromised?

Define the Ethical Problem

• What is the root of the problem?
• What exactly is wrong, what is the ethical dilemma?
• Do any actions contravene the PEO's code of ethics or the law or any other regulations?

Generate Alternative Solutions

• Sometimes there is no clear answer
• If the Code of Ethics does not provide clear guidance then apply the 4 ethical theories
• Brainstorm and develop creative solutions

Evaluate Alternative Solutions

• Evaluate each solution and its consequences
• Do the proposed solutions satisfy the law and the PEO Code of Ethics?
• Legality
• Utilitarian Ethics
• Duty-based Ethics
• Rights-based Ethics
• Virtue-based Ethics
• Fairness

Decision Making and Optimization

• Have you selected the best solution?
• Could your solution be optimized further?
• Did you find a fair solution?
• If no course of action is clearly superior to the rest then trace back through the process steps

Implementation

• Take appropriate action to implement the solution
• Act quickly and decisively, especially when safety/health is at stake

Conflict of Interest

• Unethical and unprofessional
• Occurs whenever a professional receives any benefit or has any relationship that interferes with the duty owed to the client or employer
• Occurs when an employee secretly receives a benefit or payment from more than one person for the same activities
• Disclosure of any conflict of interest is required
• Disclosure does not absolve you of the conflict.

Common Conflicts of Interest

• Seven common categories defined by Kernaghan and Langford in the book 'The Responsible Public Servant' published in 1990
• Accepting secret commissions
• Misusing the employer's facilities
• Secret employment or "moonlighting"
• Self-serving decisions
• Influence peddling
• Abusing confidential information
• Arranging future employment

Accepting Secret Commissions

• Taking payment or a significant gift from anyone that a business has a relationship with is a conflict of interest
• Accepting gifts for ignoring shoddy work
• Favouring certain suppliers

Charbonneau Commission

• The commission concluded that in the years leading up to 2011, a link existed between political party financing and the granting of subsidies and public contracts
• The commission charged with investigating corruption in Quebec's construction industry tabled a report and included 60 recommendations

Misusing the Employer's Facilities

• Using the employer's computers, telephones or supplies for private activities is theft
• It may be used as a cause for dismissal

Secret Employment – "moonlighting"

• If you have a private business and you keep it secret from your employer, it is a conflict of interest
• As an employee, your duty is to your main employer
• This is heightened if your business is the same as the employer's

Self-Serving Decisions

• Can be an abuse of privilege
• Making decisions that benefit you or your family
• Hiring relatives/diverting business to a favored company

Influence Peddling

• Using your position to support a group/cause/political party
• Your decisions may not have your employer's best interest in mind

Abusing Confidential Information

• You have a duty to keep your employer's information confidential
• Buying or selling stocks before an announcement
• Taking information, or using information, when you leave to work for a new employer

Arranging Future Employment

• If you leave and go work at a new employer or start a business that is in competition with your present employer
• You may also have 'non-competition' clause in your contract

Three Categories of Conflict of Interest

• Clear (or Actual) Conflict
• Professional's service to the client or employer is clearly compromised
• Potential (or Latent) Conflict
• Professional does not have a conflict of interest at present, a reasonable person would predict a conflict to exist in future
• Perceived Conflict
• The professional does not have a conflict of interest, but observers believe or might believe) that a conflict exists

Avoiding Conflicts of Interest

• Refuse to accept gifts or bribes
• Refuse to misuse your authority for personal gain
• Refuse to favour specific people
• Full disclosure if conflict arises
• Resist temptation to give or receive treatment