The purpose of this article is to encourage the reader to think critically about the subject of ethics in our profession. Engineers are familiar with the huge costs of liability insurance that surgeons have to pay each year because if they mess up they may kill someone. Most engineers, unlike physicians, are not sensitized to these liability costs because their corporation or institution pays for their liability insurance. Consider this: One engineer, with one mistake, can kill more people than any other licensed professional.
What kinds of chemical engineering mistakes might result in fatalities? An incorrect calculation? Could you lose your job over using the wrong safety factor in a design? Perhaps you could; however, many times, the underlying issues of many serious events are not technical. In fact, the underlying causes often have little or nothing to do with technology. Rather, they are often the result of ignoring common sense.
As the profession continues to expand, many chemical engineers are in areas of practice where the rules are not always clearly laid out and the lines are not always bright. New fields and new research areas, like nanotechnology, structural biology, genetics, and tissue engineering are exciting and full of promise. However, there are potential ethical areas where not only do we not have answers, but we do not even know the questions.
The issues around ethics can be sometimes double-sided — you can “be damned if you do and damned if you don’t.” These situations require searching deep within oneself to decide on the best path, as there may be no good way out. Take the path that you know will allow you sleep well for the rest of your life. The secret is to not land in this position in the first place. That avoidance takes straight thinking, good analysis, and forethought.
This article will help readers frame such thinking. It first examines several well-known incidents, including the Space Shuttle Challenger and Columbia disasters and the BP Texas City refinery explosion. It then discusses how to avoid potentially difficult spots and what you might do if you find yourself in one.
One cannot become an expert in ethics by reading one article. But it is hoped that by reading this article, readers will be better prepared.