Code of Ethics: Professional Conduct for Practicing Engineers

This essay delves into the critical role of the code of ethics in the engineering profession. It emphasizes the importance of maintaining professional standards, upholding public trust, and making ethical decisions. The essay explores the purpose of a code of ethics, highlighting its function in guiding engineers to act with integrity, fairness, and accountability. It also examines the responsibilities of engineers, including prioritizing public safety, acting as faithful agents, and maintaining honesty. The essay further outlines the duties of a professional engineer, such as updating knowledge, taking responsibility, reporting wrongdoings, avoiding waste of resources, promoting public awareness, and protecting confidential information. The implications for practicing engineers are also discussed, underscoring the need for continuous learning, ethical conduct, and commitment to public welfare. The essay references the IET (The Institution of Engineering and Technology) code of ethics to provide a practical framework for ethical practice.

Running Head: Code of Ethics
CODE OF ETHICS

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Code of Ethics
Table of Contents
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................3
2. Purpose of code of ethics.............................................................................................................3
3. Importance of responsibilities......................................................................................................4
4. Duty of a professional engineer...................................................................................................5
5. Implications of a practicing engineer..........................................................................................7
6. Conclusion...................................................................................................................................8
References......................................................................................................................................10

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Code of Ethics
1. Introduction
Code of ethics plays an important role in maintaining the professional rules and
regulation with honesty in any sector. Code of ethics is required in every sector such as
education sector, corporate world, health sector and others. Code of ethics is designed by the
organisations so that everyone will do the work by maintaining integrity. Ethical behaviour in the
field of technology, engineering and science is required for better practices. It helps to enhance
public trust in science so that it can positively contribute to the society. Ethics of an engineer
ensures the professional responsibilities and personal decision-making ability. One of the
characteristics of a profession is commitment towards code of conduct. The thesis statement of
this essay is interpreted as the rule of conduct mentioned by IET (The Institution of Engineering
and Management). These rules of conduct are mentioned in Bye-Laws. This code of ethics
ensures that it enables to balance between the public interest and demands of the stakeholders.
2. Purpose of code of ethics
The purpose of creating code of ethics is to the managers, employees and every person of
the organisation to work with unity and with honesty to achieve the objective of the organisation.
As stated by Bott, Coleman, Eaton, & Rowland (2014), it helps the organisation in working with
values and makes the correct decision by thinking about the organisation as well as employees.
In engineering profession, code of ethics has great influence as it upholds the reputation and
dignity of the concerned profession. Another purpose of code of ethics is to maintain fairness as
well as integrity in their professional responsibilities.
For making right decision

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Code of Ethics
In accordance with Davis (2017), the engineers have the power to improve the lives of
many people by their decision. If the decision is made by following ethics then it will reserve
public trust. With the help of these codes of ethics, the engineers will be able to upgrade their
skills and knowledge every which improves their decision-making ability as well.
To be honest and accountable
An engineer who follows the code of ethics is always accountable and honest for the
action. As per the code of e ethics, if an engineer is not competent in any subject, then the
concerned engineer will not take up the concerned responsibility as it might risk the lives of
many people
Legal guidance for solving conflicts
Every organisation face conflicts in their operations as well as engineering professionals.
As stated by Bielefeldt & Canney (2016), an engineer having ethical value research about the
reason for conflicts and solve that legally with the help of higher authority. As per the IET code
of ethics, an engineer will inform the higher authority about potential conflict in writing to
resolve the issue.
3. Importance of responsibilities
IET (The Institute of Engineering and Technology) is an Engineering organisation of
Australia. With the knowledge of engineering and technology, IET also helps to promote and
encourage the value of ethical behaviour while practising engineering, science and technology.
Code of ethics of IET helps in guiding the members to rise to the standard level of professional
ethics. The code of ethics of IET is consistent with the principles that are widely accepted by the
engineering organisations. At the time of joining the IET, the member must agree to follow the
code of ethics (IET, 2018)

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Code of Ethics
Safety, welfare and health of Public
As the engineers work for the benefits of public welfare, their creations influence the
lives of people and make the lives easier, secure and comfortable. It is the responsibility of the
engineers to think about the safety and health of the public (Bielefeldt, Canney, Swan, &
Knight,. 2016). While studying engineering, code of ethics helps the engineers to give the first
priority to the safety and health of the public. IET (The Institute of Engineering and Technology)
also helps the members to know about the code of ethics so that they can influence the lives of
people positively.
Act as a trustee or faithful agents
As the innovations of engineers such as bridge or any electronic machine benefit the lives
of people so an engineer must be trustworthy. As if the engineer is not competent in doing any
work then the engineer must refuse to take responsibility for that particular job to maintain
public trust.
Honesty and integrity
Honesty and integrity are the important qualities of an engineer. Engineers can give
advice to the client if they think that the project will not work. Engineers should be honest and
should not disclose any information about a project to other clients.
4. Duty of a professional engineer
According to the IET (The Institute of Engineering and Technology), the engineers
should follow the code of ethics while performing their duties. Professional engineers having the
code of ethics should perform the following duties.
Update the knowledge

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Code of Ethics
A professional engineer should keep their knowledge up-to-date and try to broaden as
well as deepen their knowledge while working with the organisation. Bott et al. (2014) stated
that this is the code of ethics that has been followed by the engineers in IET (The Institute of
Engineering and Technology) that updating the knowledge by following code of ethics helps a
lot in their development of career.
Taking Responsibility
A professional engineer should take the responsibility for the work that is done by him or
the work that has been done under his guidance and supervision. He should also take the
responsibility of the people working under him and guide them in a proper way (Farahani &
Farahani, 2014). If he/she does any mistakes then also engineers should take the responsibility
and accept the mistake. According to code of ethics of IET, an engineer should accept the fault
and works to improve that.
Report the wrong things going in organisation
A professional engineer who is following the code of ethics should report the wrong
activity that is going within the organisation and take the legal steps. If the engineer finds
someone breaching the rules of the organisation then the engineer should report this to the higher
authority (Miñano Uruburu, Moreno-Romero, & Pérez-López. 2017). If the engineer comes to
know about any fraud, criminal activity, any health or safety risk then according to code of
ethics, the engineer should try to improve the things with the help of higher authority (Farahani
& Farahani, 2014). The engineers of IET put the eyes to the organisation and if they find
anything strange they report to the higher authority in writing.
Avoiding waste of natural resources

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Code of Ethics
A professional engineer should find ways to avoid the waste of natural resources, to
reduce the damage of the environment or damage of any man-made products (Farahani &
Farahani, 2014). According to code of ethics, an engineer should always focus on whether his
work is doing anything harmful to the society or any person in individual.
Promoting public awareness
According to code of ethics, a professional engineer should contribute to the awareness of
people about the development of science and technology (Mouton Malan, Kimppa, & Venter,.
2015). An engineer can improve the lives of many people with the awareness of technology, as
technology makes the life better and easier. According to code of ethics of IET, an engineer
should always think about the benefits of the public interest.
Not leak the confidential information of the organisation
A professional engineer should not leak the confidential information to the outside client
at any cost (Farahani & Farahani, 2014). According to code of ethics, the engineer should be
loyal to the organisation in which the engineer is working. The engineer should not do any illegal
work for money which is against the code of ethics.
5. Implications of a practicing engineer
As the code of ethics are very important for a professional engineer to maintain. The code
of ethics should be taught to the engineers at the time of their study so that when they will start
their professional life, they can understand their responsibilities As stated by Giorgini et al.
(2015), practising engineer should always try to improve their knowledge by practising as well
as studying as per the changing technology to update their knowledge. Practising engineers
should do the work with concentration and responsibility. They should also take the
responsibility for the mistakes that have been done by them and try to improve those mistakes. In

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Code of Ethics
accordance with Komić, Marušić & Marušić (2015), they focus on good as well as the bad
activity of the organisation and report the wrong activity to the higher authority immediately.
They always follow the code of ethics and if they find anyone who breaches the code of ethics,
they report that.
As stated by Bielefeldt & Canney (2016), the engineers under practice always do their
work with honesty and integrity. They do not leak any information about the organisation to the
outside client and if they find anyone doing this then they take legal steps to secure
organisational data. In accordance with Komić, Marušić & Marušić (2015), practising engineers
needs to consider the safety of people as well as environment while doing the work. They must
avoid the activities that can harm or damage the environment in any way. As stated by Bott et al.
(2014), they think about the safety of people while working and they also avoid the wastage of
natural resources. While making a device, they always think about the benefits of people and
their safety. They must help the people by informing about or providing the latest technology and
usage. As their created device can influence the lives of many people so they help the people to
know about the device for their benefits. As stated by Bielefeldt & Canney (2016), they can
serve a lot of people with their knowledge as well as their work. Professional engineers should
do the work by thinking about the public trust and values of people by following the code of
ethics of the organisation.
6. Conclusion
It has been seen that following the code of ethics is very important for an engineer to
follow. IET (The Institute of Engineering and Technology) also helps a lot of engineers to
promote the code of ethics and its importance with the practice of science, technology and
engineering. In any profession, there is some code of ethics that must be followed by the

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Code of Ethics
members of the organisations. IET has some code of ethics that is followed by the members.
Professional engineer should follow the code of ethics to improve the lives of people in a
positive way. They should think about the safety and benefit of people doing any work. They
should not do anything that can harm a person or environment in any way. Code of ethics helps
them to understand the value and trust of people and serve them by the heart. The engineers who
understand the values of code of ethics serve the society in a better way and always think to
bring values and trust in the lives of people.

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Code of Ethics
References
Books
Bott, F., Coleman, A., Eaton, J., & Rowland, D. (2014). Professional issues in software
engineering. Florida: CRC Press. Retrieved from:
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781482268324
Davis, M. (2017). Engineering ethics. Abingdon: Routledge. Retrieved from:
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781351940160
Journals
Bielefeldt, A. R., & Canney, N. E. (2016). Changes in the social responsibility attitudes of
engineering students over time. Science and engineering ethics, 22(5), 1535-1551.
Retrieved from: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11948-015-9706-5
Bielefeldt, A. R., Canney, N., Swan, C., & Knight, D. W. (2016). Contributions of Learning
through Service to the Ethics Education of Engineering Students. International Journal
for Service Learning in Engineering, 11(2). Retrieved from:
https://web.b.ebscohost.com/abstract?
direct=true&profile=ehost&scope=site&authtype=crawler&jrnl=15559033&AN=119347
791&h=5wnKfzdfMyIcL2AteyI4RHhIrg9TwDcDewd1ZwP
%2fUVkhiS7dK7w6macjr3ujq56kHY0yLzpqv101%2fkgR4q%2bxzA%3d
%3d&crl=c&resultNs=AdminWebAuth&resultLocal=ErrCrlNotAuth&crlhashurl=login.a
spx%3fdirect%3dtrue%26profile%3dehost%26scope%3dsite%26authtype%3dcrawler
%26jrnl%3d15559033%26AN%3d119347791
Farahani, M. F., & Farahani, F. F. (2014). The study on professional ethics components among
faculty members in the Engineering. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 116,

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2085-2089. Retrieved from:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042814005412
Miñano, R., Uruburu, Á., Moreno-Romero, A., & Pérez-López, D. (2017). Strategies for
teaching professional ethics to IT engineering degree students and evaluating the
result. Science and engineering ethics, 23(1), 263-286. Retrieved from:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11948-015-9746-x
Mouton, F., Malan, M. M., Kimppa, K. K., & Venter, H. S. (2015). Necessity for ethics in social
engineering research. Computers & Security, 55, 114-127. Retrieved from:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167404815001224
Online article
Giorgini, V., Mecca, J. T., Gibson, C., Medeiros, K., Mumford, M. D., Connelly, S., &
Devenport, L. D. (2015). Researcher perceptions of ethical guidelines and codes of
conduct. Accountability in research, [Online] 22(3), 123-138. Retrieved from:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08989621.2014.955607
Komić, D., Marušić, S. L., & Marušić, A. (2015). Research integrity and research ethics in
professional codes of ethics: Survey of terminology used by professional organizations
across research disciplines. PloS one, [Online] 10(7), e0133662. Retrieved from:
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0133662
Website
IET (2018), Rules of Conduct, 21st July, 2018, Available on<
https://www.theiet.org/about/governance/rules-conduct/>