Engineering Profession Ethics: Upholding Standards in Construction

This essay delves into the critical importance of engineering ethics, using the scenario of an engineer named Jack to illustrate key principles. It emphasizes the necessity for engineers to uphold the highest standards of honesty, integrity, and public safety, referencing the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) code of ethics. The essay analyzes how engineers should prioritize public welfare, act as faithful agents to their employers, and avoid deceptive practices. Furthermore, it explores personal moral principles such as integrity, responsibility, quality, teamwork, and accountability, which are essential for building a strong work ethic. The essay advises Jack to enhance his ethical conduct by adhering to these principles and addressing his declining interest in his job, thereby ensuring he contributes positively to his profession and society. Desklib provides similar solved assignments and past papers to help students excel.

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Running head: Engineering profession ethics
Engineering profession ethics
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Engineering profession ethics
Engineering professional ethics
Engineering outcomes are always practical, making things that are usable in everyday
living. Building construction is an excellent example of an industry that requires the expertise of
an Engineer. Engineers become reliable based on their knowledge of science and mathematical
computations as well as imaginative reasoning, judgment, and skill from experience (Harris Jr et
al., 2013). As much as everyone focuses on the benefits of creating something, for example, the
construction firm may be looking forward to the timely completion of its project to earn from it,
there is another aspect of risk that is so essential and cannot be ignored. When the situation
especially involves the natural environment and human life, an Engineer has to be careful always
in his or her judgment. Hence the need to promote engineering profession ethics, which
constitute acceptable standards of personal and corporate behavior, values and guiding
principles.
Jack has to understand that engineering is considered an essential profession in society.
As a member of this profession, he is expected to display the highest standards of honesty and
integrity. He should always remember that his decisions as an Engineer impact the quality of life
for people. Accordingly, his services require honesty, equity, impartiality and must be devoted to
protecting the public health, safety, and welfare (Vee & Skitmore, 2003). To be able to boost his
ethical conduct, he needs to adhere to a set of standard professional behavior National Society of
Professional Engineers (NSPE) code of ethics. The following paragraphs will be analyzing each
code and relate with Jack's character.
The first canon in fulfillment of engineering profession duty is, “Engineers shall hold
paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public.” ("Code of Ethics | National Society of
Professional Engineers," 2018). If Jack’s judgment is overruled in the face of circumstances that

Engineering profession ethics
endanger human life, he is required to notify his employer or any other authority deemed
appropriate. As his fellow examining Engineer, he could as well ask for my honest opinion. My
job and that of Jack is to review and append our signatures in the reports that we receive from
inspectors responsible for visual inspection of the construction. It is, therefore, our responsibility
to ensure that the report is accurate and not in any way misleading. As a matter of fact, in our
positions, we are much better placed to deny approval of the documents that fail to conform to
applicable standards.
The second cannon is that as Engineers we should act as faithful agents to our employer,
in this case, the construction firm. This rule of practice encourages us to disclose all potential
conflicts of interest that influence our judgment and the quality of the services we offer. We,
therefore, need to judge the situation and give our recommendation. In the case of the reports
that Jack receives, he needed to highlight the problem, for example, the lack of detail in the
report, and give a recommendation, perhaps for the officer to be given a new camera.
The third cannon requires that Engineers avoid deceptive acts. By this rule, we are
expected not to offer, solicit or receive whether by direct means or indirectly any contribution
meant to influence the award of a contract or which may be reasonably assumed by the public to
having the intention of influencing the award of a contract or extension thereof. As long as the
reports are signed, the construction firm management will assume everything is okay in the
project and even purpose to reward the inspectors without knowing the problem that exists. So
Jack should be directing the firm management to deal with the problem.
Furthermore, it is our professional obligation not to injure directly or indirectly the
professional reputation of other Engineers. If one believes another is guilty of unethical practice,
then he or she should forward such information to the relevant authority for proper action. In

Engineering profession ethics
private practice, Engineers should not review another Engineer’s work for the same client
without the knowledge of such Engineer unless he or she has no further connection with the
work (Baggini, J., & Fosl, 2007). Meaning that instead of Jack making light-hearted remarks of
the Inspector's job, he should have invited the Inspector to review his job together and then tell
him directly his concerns.
Apart from upholding the code of ethics, there are also a set of personal moral principles
that an employee should use to build a strong work ethic. The fact that Jack’s loss of interest in
his job is noticeable tells of one whose work ethic has grown weak. The following factors
demonstrate a strong work ethic and are what Jack needs to sharpen an edge in his career;
integrity, sense of responsibility, emphasis on quality, teamwork, and accountability.
Integrity covers all aspects of a career person. An employee that has integrity builds a
trusting relationship with employer, clients, and coworkers. Coworkers desire honest feedback
and clients trust the advice granted by the employee. The employer, on the other hand, relies on
the employee's high moral standards, and trust him not to create problems (Whitbeck, 2011).
Jack, therefore, needs to develop integrity to sustain an excellent relationship with employer and
coworkers especially. His subordinate, the inspector, also looks up to his correction, so when
Jack fails to correct him, then he will become used to the mistake as his respect for Jack goes
down.
Responsibility regards how an employee works and the amount of work he does. It is a
natural feeling of one's job performance that motivates him to do his job well, put in his best
effort and complete a project to the best of his ability. Jack, in this case, has a weak sense of
responsibility, where he fails to do a follow up on the inspection process, find out the reason why

Engineering profession ethics
he is not getting detailed information from the reports he is receiving. I would, therefore, advice
Jack to develop a strong sense of responsibility as an examining Engineer.
I would advise Jack to emphasize on quality for a strong work ethic. He is only doing the
bare minimum as an examining Engineer, which from what he has implied, is just enough to
keep his job intact. He should instead care about the quality of his work, not just signing off the
reports for the sake of it, but first verifying things in detail, even go back to the field with the
inspector and confirm for himself before approving. Jack's way of doing things sustains
negligence, not quality. If anything goes wrong, then it would be as a result of his negligence.
To develop a strong work ethic, we need to have a sense of teamwork. Jack and I have a
common task of examining inspection reports, verify that what the situation is the field is
accurately presented before approving them. It is, therefore, my responsibility as it is Jack's to
ensure that our team meet its goals and attain quality work. As teammates, it is necessary to
correct each other, help out where possible for our collaborations to be smoother. I would, for
example, reach out to the Inspector that delivers poor work on his behalf and attempt to correct
him, for the sake of achieving the objectives of the firm that has employed us.
A strong work ethic is also realized through accountability. We need to own up for our
actions and take responsibility for every arising outcome out of our decision. It is proper to admit
mistakes and learn from them so not to make them again (Passow, 2012). One also expects his
juniors, people he is overseeing, for example, the Inspector, to meet the same high standards and
should support them in their responsibility instead of blaming them. Jack should, therefore, find
a way of being accountable so that he encourages the Inspector.

Engineering profession ethics
References
Baggini, J., & Fosl, P. S. (2007). The ethics toolkit: A compendium of ethical concepts and
methods.
Code of Ethics | National Society of Professional Engineers. (2018). Retrieved from
https://www.nspe.org/resources/ethics/code-ethics
Fleddermann, C. B. (1999). Engineering ethics (Vol. 4). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Harris Jr, C. E., Pritchard, M. S., Rabins, M. J., James, R., & Englehardt, E. (2013). Engineering
ethics: Concepts and cases. Cengage Learning.
Markes, I. (2006). A review of the literature on employability skill needs in engineering.
European Journal of Engineering Education, 31(6), 637-650.
Passow, H. J. (2012). Which ABET competencies do engineering graduates find most important
in their work?. Journal of Engineering Education, 101(1), 95-118.
Performance Tips: Developing a Strong Work Ethic. (2018). Retrieved from
https://www.cornerstoneondemand.com/performance-tips-developing-strong-work-ethic
Schwatz, A. E. Engineering Ethics: The Basics. National Society of Professional Engineers.
Vee, C., & Skitmore, C. (2003). Professional ethics in the construction industry. Engineering,
Construction and Architectural Management, 10(2), 117-127.
Whitbeck, C. (2011). Ethics in engineering practice and research. Cambridge University Press.