Engineering professionalism and ethics - 2013

Class date(s):

03 and 04 December 2013

Resources and slides

• The PEO's website has a copy of The Code of Ethics.

03 December 2013 (14B)

We will cover an introduction to the PEO, using this handout (available in class for you).

There were many questions about the PEO and licensing. They are most likely answered on their website.

• Audio and video recording of the class.

04 December 2013 (14C)

The Ontario Code of Ethics for engineers.

Consider these situations:

• Your boss asked you to use a thinner pressure vessel wall, to reduce cost, but you know that this will push you to a lower safe operating pressure, but it is likely that for short times you will operate at higher pressures.
• You realize your colleague, and your friend, has a drug problem, that will almost certainly influence his abilities at work. Your work is related to planning production schedules across 25 different sites in North America. Is your answer any different if your job were designing, installing and servicing SIS units for packed-bed reactors?
• You discover an interesting and unique way of improving reactor efficiency, but your employer has not given you raises and recognition for several years - here is a chance to start your own company and sell the technology back to them, and other similar companies.
• You realize 5 months later that the supplier under charged for the heat exchanger; they forgot to add installation costs, and some extra piping that they delivered. Your project is already slightly over-budget.
• You are requested by higher level management to downplay the level of pollutant discharged; if you report pollutants accurately, you risk having the plant shut down, losing your job, and your colleagues' jobs will certainly be cut as well.

This class is not a guide to what you should do in these cases, but about how the code of ethics can help us decide on several alternative courses of action.