Responsibility in Engineering- Engineering Ethics Concepts and Cases.pptx

Engineering Ethics Concepts and Cases book chapter presentation

1. Responsibility in Engineering CHAPTER 3 Dept. of CSE, HUB

2. Introduction Responsibility as Accountability - Understood in terms of: - legal accountability (which sometimes includes strict [no fault] liability); - moral accountability (which does not include strict [no fault] liability). Applied to: - individual engineers; - teams of engineers; - divisions or units within organizations; - organizations themselves. Responsibility focuses primarily on legal liabilities, job-defined roles, expectations of professional engineering societies, commonly accepted standards of engineering competency, or self-imposed moral standards.

3. Desirable Qualities in Engineers Basic engineering competence Professional integrity Honesty Willingness to make self-sacrifice Working well with others Imaginativeness Communicating clearly with others Openness to acknowledging and correcting mistakes Ability to see the big picture, as well as minute details

4. ENGINEERING STANDARDS T he NSPE code requires that the work of engineers satisfies “applicable engineering standards”: Regulatory : specifying technical requirements (e.g., for safety) Procedural : e.g., procedures to be followed for determining measurable quality or level of safety Standard of Care : that level or quality of service ordinarily provided by other normally competent practitioners, contemporaneously providing similar services in the same locality and under the same circumstances Judgment : needed because regulatory and procedural standards and the standard of care still require the exercise of good judgment

5. What is the Need for Judgement in Engineering Standard? Regulatory and procedural standards and the standard of care are intended to provide some assurance of quality, safety, and efficiency in engineering . It is important to realize, however, that they also leave considerable room for professional discretion in engineering design and practice. There are a few algorithms for engineers to follow here . So , the need for engineering judgment must be emphasized.

6. Responsibilities Obligation-Responsibility: This type of responsibility refers to the ethical and professional duty of engineers to use their specialized knowledge and skills in ways that benefit their employers, clients, and the public . Assessments of how well engineers handle their obligation-responsibilities are typically in terms of praise and blame.

7. Responsibilities Obligation-Responsibility: This type of responsibility refers to the ethical and professional duty of engineers to use their specialized knowledge and skills in ways that benefit their employers, clients, and the public . Assessments of how well engineers handle their obligation responsibilities are typically in terms of praise and blame . Blame-Responsibility: Blame-responsibility is a fundamentally negative and backward-looking concept of responsibility. It refers to the accountability engineers hold when things go wrong or mistakes are made. However, it is important not to forget that assessments can be positive as well as negative.

8. Standard of Care a standard of engineering responsibility accepted both in law and engineering practice. It is  the benchmark that determines whether professional obligations to people have been met Formally, the “ standard of care ” in engineering refers to the level of professionalism, competence, and ethical responsibility that is expected of engineers when performing their duties. A Professional Engineer is negligent if he/she fails to use the skill and care that a reasonably careful professional engineer would have used in similar circumstances.

9. NSPE Preamble Engineering is an important and learned profession. As members of this profession, engineers are expected to exhibit the highest standards of honesty and integrity. Engineering has a direct and vital impact on the quality of life for all people. Accordingly, the services provided by engineers require honesty, impartiality, fairness, and equity, and must be dedicated to the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare. Engineers must perform under a standard of professional behavior that requires adherence to the highest principles of ethical conduct.

10. Rather than leave the determination of what counts as safe solely in the hands of individual engineers and their employers, safety standards are set by government agencies or nongovernmental organizations. underlying all of this is a broader standard of care in engineering practice, which is a standard referenced in legal matters. In specific cases, experienced and respected engineers can be summoned to provide testimony in court regarding this standard.

11. Blame Responsibilitiy and Causation R elationship of Responsibility for harm to C ausation of harm: The concept of cause is related in an interesting way to that of responsibility. Generally speaking, the more we are inclined to speak of the physical cause of something, the less we are inclined to speak of responsibility and the more we are inclined to speak of responsibility, the less inclined we are to focus on physical causes .

12. Legal and Moral Responsibility for Causing Harm Intentionally (or knowingly and deliberately) causing harm Legal Liability, Moral Responsibility Recklessly causing harm awareness of the likelihood of causing harm, but not intending or aiming at harm Legal Liability, Moral Responsibility Negligently causing harm overlooking or not noticing the risk of harm, failure of due care Legal Liability, Legal Obligation Strict liability for causing harm, even without fault : Legal Liability

13. Negligently Causing Harm Professional negligence , is the failure to perform duties that professionals have implicitly or explicitly assumed by virtue of being professionals. In law, a successful charge of negligence must meet three conditions: 1. A legal obligation to conform to certain standards of conduct is applicable . 2. The person charged with negligence fails to conform to the standards. 3. There is a reasonably close causal connection between the conduct and any resulting harm.

14. D ifference between Legal L iability and Moral R esponsibility Legal Liability typically requires actual harm, Moral Responsibility does not However, the good fortune of not actually causing harm does not relieve one of moral responsibility One's sense of guilt or of falling short morally remains operative, as does the critical assessment of others.

15. Obstacles in the way of handling O ne’s R esponsibilities The problem of many hands (or fractured responsibility) Blind spots self-deception willful blindness inattentional blindness Egoistic perspectives (self-interest first) Egocentric perspectives (assuming others see matters as we do) Microscopic vision (seeing fine details, but missing the bigger picture) Uncritical deference to authority

16. The Problem of Many Hands Individuals often attempt to evade personal responsibility for wrongdoing by pointing out that many individuals had a hand in causing the harm . “So many people are responsible for what happened that it is irrational and unfair to pin the responsibility on any individual person, including me.“ This is known as the problem of fractured responsibility or (preferably) the problem of many hands .

17. The Problem of Many Hands In response to this argument, the following principles are applied to the responsibility of individuals in a situation where many people are involved in causing harm, either through inaction or through action . Principle of responsibility for inaction in groups : In a situation in which a harm has been produced by collective inaction, the degree of responsibility of each member of the group depends on the extent to which the member could reasonably be expected to have tried to prevent the action. Principle of responsibility for action in groups : Here, the degree of responsibility of each member of the group depends on the extent to which the member caused the harm by some action reasonably avoidable on his part.

18. ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct Association for Computing Machinery The ACM Code of Ethics expresses the conscience of the computing profession, and it affirms an obligation of computing professionals both individually and collectively to use their skills for the benefit of society . Reference: https://www.acm.org/code-of-ethics

19. General Ethical Principles of Professionals According to ACM Guidelines Contribute to society and to human well-being, acknowledging that all people are stakeholders in computing. Avoid harm. Be honest and trustworthy. Be fair and take action not to discriminate. Respect the work required to produce new ideas, inventions, creative works, and computing artifacts. Respect privacy. Honor confidentiality.

20. Professional Responsibility According to ACM Guidelines Strive to achieve high quality in both the processes and products of professional work. Maintain high standards of professional competence, conduct, and ethical practice. Know and respect existing rules pertaining to professional work. Accept and provide appropriate professional review .

21. Professional Responsibility According to ACM Guidelines Give comprehensive and thorough evaluations of computer systems and their impacts, including analysis of possible risks. Perform work only in areas of competence. Foster public awareness and understanding of computing, related technologies, and their consequences. Access computing and communication resources only when authorized or when compelled by the public good. Design and implement systems that are robustly and usably secure .

22. Professional Leadership Principles According to ACM Guidelines Ensure that the public good is the central concern during all professional computing work. Articulate, encourage acceptance of, and evaluate fulfillment of social responsibilities by members of the organization or group. Manage personnel and resources to enhance the quality of working life. Articulate, apply, and support policies and processes that reflect the principles of the Code. Use care when modifying or retiring systems. Recognize and take special care of systems that become integrated into the infrastructure of society .