QUESTION:

Engineers are often entrusted with responsibility of implementing projects involving million

of ringgit. As the integrity and ethical standards of engineers are being put to test, what

measure can an engineer take to prevent corruption and unethical practice in order to

safeguard the good image of engineering profession?

AN OVERVIEW

Engineering is not just a job as how most people overview it. Instead, it is a mindset

and sometimes a way of life for certain people who really in love with engineering and

technical things. Engineers use their judgement and experience to solve problems when the

limits of scientific knowledge or mathematics are present. Their most concern is to limit or

eliminate risks that they might face during the project, either short term or long term period.

Most of their successful creations or ideas identify human weakness and complexity is a

constant companion. In all the multimillion projects, most engineers often entrusted to hold

the responsibility of implementing them. Engineers invent the future and their work affects

the lives of millions of people as well for better or for worse. Therefore it raises massive

ethical issues in every branch of engineering

WHAT IS ENGINEERING ETHICS

It is place between morality and professional ethics. Morality refers to those standards

that apply to everyone rather than only to members of a special group or organization.

Basically, these standards are ones that every rational person wants every other people to

follow. When we were young, we used to learn such basic moral rules for example: do not

lie, do not cheat, do not steal, and so on. As we grow up, our point of view on how to

interpret a particular rule or exception may change. For example, we may come to think that

it is ‘okay’ to lie without saying anything false by providing some fact and reason to support

what we say and to speak confidently. As we entered our teens, such attitude has been

changed. Students have been taught about ordinary morality and not with professional ethics.

Differ in professional ethics, it apply to every member of a profession who wants every other

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member to follow. Ethics applies to members of a group simply because they are members of

that group and engineering ethics applies to engineers (and no one else).

They have been formulated in different codes of ethics, formal interpretations of those

codes, and the less formal practices by which engineers pass on the special ways or

techniques they do things to each new generation of engineers. Thus, no one is likely to learn

much about engineering ethics except at engineering school or while practicing engineering,

except for those who lucky enough to have a mother or father or maybe any of the family

member who is an engineer. Engineering ethics is as much a part of what engineers in

particular know as factors of safety, testing procedures, or ways to design for reliability,

durability, or economy. Engineering ethics is part of thinking but in an engineer way.

REASONS TO LEARN ETHICS

The reason to learn ethics is because of previous tragedies, disasters, and scandals in

which engineers have been the major players. Something should be done about these entire

bad occurrences. Although these incidents should be a matter of concern to engineer (other

than the normal people) who can learn from past mistakes, they are exceptional occurrences

in engineering. Most engineers will never be interested to involve in such circumstances. As

people are asked to think of media coverage regarding ethical issues in engineering, they

come up with a familiar disaster which is the collapsed of Highland Tower. Thus, it

encourages engineers to think of ethics for those few engineers who have the misfortune of

being involved in newsworthy problem. Even though there are some bad impressions on few

engineers, the national surveys usually place engineers near the top of the list regarding to the

public’s confidence in the ethics of the professions.

One goal that has been identified in order to raise an ethical awareness was to

stimulate the ethical imagination in students mind. Young professionals are too often get

caught by surprise when faced with an ethical problem in their professional practice. They

may not handle it well as they never have thought about such problem seriously. The second

goal is to help these young engineers recognize the ethical issues. For example, what counts

as a conflict of interest in engineering practice and why it is an ethical problem may not be

noticeable to the amateur. The third goal is to help to identify the concepts of ethics and

principles that are relevant to the practice. The concepts are such as public health and safety,

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quality, efficiency, cost-risk-benefit analysis, environmental and loyalty. Another goal is to

understand on how to deal with ethical disagreement. The trick is by recognized that some

uncertainty can be expected and should be tolerated. The last goal is to encourage young

engineers to take ethical responsibility seriously. This will become easier once they

understand the fact that engineering is not just a technical or theoretical matter.

If we examine what engineers do, it is easy to see that ethical responsibility should be

the main concern of the engineering profession and practice. By teaching ethics to student, it

can create sensitivity to ethical issues simply by making them aware that they as young

engineers will have to resolve certain ethical problems. Teaching engineering ethics can

increase young engineers’ knowledge regarding relevant standards. A young engineer who

reads a code of engineering ethics is more likely to know what is in it than another who does

not read it.

Knowledge of standards includes more than just knowing what is written in codes or

handbooks. Part of knowing standard is by understanding the rationale of them especially the

consequences of departing from them. Teaching engineering ethics may also improve ethical

judgement. Ethical judgement tends to improve with use. The classroom and laboratory

provide a safe place to make mistakes and learn from them—ethical mistakes as well as

purely technical ones. Finally, teaching engineering ethics can increase a student’s ethical

will-power. An engineer who knows that he or she shares a particular standard of conduct

with other engineers are more likely to follow it than one who believes himself alone.

ACCURACY AND SEVERITY

This principle has been listed as the first principle that has been listed in the Statement

of Ethical Principles. It stated that “professional engineers have a duty to ensure that they

acquire to use the knowledge wisely that is relevant to the engineering skills needed in their

work in the service of others”. The most obvious reason why accuracy and severity is

important to professional engineers is because the accuracy and attention to detail of a project

ensures better engineering solutions while the inaccuracies and carelessness in engineering

will cause failure of engineering projects which in many cases mean financial failures,

accidents, injuries and worse, deaths.

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Wrong calculations and assumptions as well as improper paper work might cause

disastrous accident. The risk here is that engineers working on the project will make mistakes

as they may not be aware of the key mistakes to avoid. The mistakes in engineering projects

have the potential to be catastrophic. On the other hand, an engineer with specialist skills

within their area of expertise can make a significant and positive contribution to society as

well as the environment. However, it is important to note that many engineering projects are

different and original, and it will require previously untested skills and methods. In these

cases it is an engineer’s duty to ensure that risks are well managed and allow teams to obtain

the appropriate skills.

Engineers also have a responsibility to maintain their knowledge up to date in their

fields of expertise because of they have the trust of their clients and the most of all, the

public. These engineers should be aware with the value of their professional opinion and

never give it lightly or take it easily on the basis of insufficient evidence. If an engineer’s

opinion turns out to be mistaken, they may be alleged accountable for any negative

consequences of actions taken based on the previous statement that was made. Although they

may have used inaccurate information unintentionally, given their position as a supposed

expert they will still be responsible for those actions.

Conflicts of interest can influence the accuracy of an engineer’s opinion as well. They

should consider whether the opinion they have given is objective, correct to the best of their

(up-to-date) knowledge, and based on the available evidence; or whether there might there be

other considerations that might be influencing their judgment. These might include

considerations or loyalty to an employer as an example.

INTEGRITY AND HONESTY

Integrity. The most common and trending word that currently being commercialize in

our local mass media. It is to promote the integrity and honesty in each citizen for every

single work that is done in order to create a healthy working environment. It is also the

second principle that listed in Statement of Ethical Principles is integrity and honesty. It

stated that “Professional Engineers should adopt the highest standards of professional

conduct, openness, fairness and honesty”.

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Integrity and honesty are two separate but closely related concepts in reality. Despite

of having different meanings, it is hard to imagine if there is anyone exhibiting one value

without the other. Yet someone who is dishonest is unlikely to be described as having

integrity. Integrity is a more complex to define where it is related with acting ethically, even

when there is no personal advantage by doing so. A person of integrity will resist pressure to

compromise their ethical values and principles no matter where that pressure comes from;

either employers, clients, or anywhere else. They will take steps to avoid conflicts of interest

or declare these conflicts clearly and do their best to avoid improper influence. People with

integrity are consistent and reliable and at most of the time their actions match up to their

words.

Engineers are likely to work for the benefit of different groups of people and in many

cases they will have a duty to keep these people informed with relevant facts. The public

trusts these professionals to provide information that is as complete and accurate as possible.

Honesty is not simply a matter of not lying because sometimes an engineer may need to

reveal information which in some cases people may not want to hear. For cases such as where

there is a duty to maintain confidentiality to a client as an example, it may be unethical to

reveal information which would risk that confidentiality. Thus failure to disclose would not

necessarily be dishonest in this case.

RESPECT FOR LIFE, LAW AND PUBLIC GOOD

This set of principles is the broadest of the four that make up the Statement of Ethical

Principles. It is questionably the one that covers the ethical issues most commonly associated

with engineering ethics. All of us have general responsibilities for the life, law and the public

good, but the engineer also has particular professional responsibilities to protect and maintain

these. Many discussions of engineering ethics focus on major accidents where people were

killed and injured. There are also cases in which there seems to have been some level of

negligence involved; for example, the Gong Badak Sport Complex in Terengganu that was

collapsed at about 75% of its completion, and the Highland Tower collapsed. The principle of

ensuring the safety of others is so essential to engineering that following it constitutes a large

part of what is involved in thinking like an engineer.

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This set of principles is not limited to health and safety only but also covers respect

for the law, respect for the natural environment (to protect and conserve the environment),

and the reputation and dignity of the engineering profession. It includes all aspects of

engineers’ responsibilities for the people affected by their work as well as their social and

environmental perspective in which they function. In this aspect of an engineer’s

responsibility, it is very sensitive to change the social and political standards and

expectations. The steps engineers are expected to take to protect others have changed over

time, and vary across the world according to the situation. Similarly, there is some increase in

awareness of the impact of engineering projects on the local scene and the global

environment, and the need to ease any negative impacts.

These principles overlap significantly with the previous principles because failures of

accuracy and rigour can put the public at risk, and failures of honesty and integrity can

damage the reputation of the profession. Furthermore, this principle applies to all engineers

starting from technicians to managers.

RESPONSIBLE LEADERSHIP: LISTENING AND INFORMING

The above heading from the Statement of Ethical Principles states that professional

engineers “should aspire to high standards of leadership in the exploitation and management

of technology. They hold a privileged and trusted position in society, and are expected to

demonstrate that they are seeking to serve wider society and to be sensitive to public

concerns.” It focuses basically on cases in which an engineer has to make a decision often at

a particular time. When presenting a report, the engineer is required to be honest and

objective. Else if offered a bribe, an engineer is required to reject the bribe. At certain time,

we may think that this may be requirements for an individual engineer. If the engineer fails to

be honest or maybe if he accepts a bribe, the engineer does something wrong.

If we think about the engineering profession as a whole, there might be

responsibilities that apply to the profession without being the responsibility of any specific

individual professional. Professional bodies can engage with politics, campaigning for

changes in the law and so on. As an example, the medical profession gets involved with

debates on the safety of sports such as boxing, or on public health policies relating to issues

such as childhood obesity. It is reasonable to think that this is a part of the profession’s

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responsibilities but typically we would not claim that any particular doctor had done

something wrong if they were not involved in any particular campaign. It may be perfectly

tolerable for any given individual not to be involved in any of these beneficial activities but

something would be lost if the medical profession as a whole was not involved in public

debate and had no part to play in forming public policy. It may cause bad picture of the

medical profession if it does not engage in this way.

Similarly, while it may be acceptable for any individual engineer to choose not to be

involved in political debate, there may be an obligation for the engineering profession to

engage in these beneficial activities. Issues such as climate change, energy security, the

protection of personal data and so on are high profile policy issues to which the engineering

profession can make an important contribution.

Hence, there is a specific interpretation of leadership in this topic. This principle

above could refer to the duty that engineers have to be responsible leaders when managing

other engineers. As such “listening and informing” would be a reference to the duty of a

senior engineer to listen to the other engineers he is working with and to keep them informed.

Although this is important, this principle refers to the responsibility not of individual

engineers but of the engineering profession to provide responsible leadership, to listen to

society and to engage with the public. However, it is individual engineers who must make the

decision to follow this principle. If there are no engineers who engage with the debates in

society, then the profession cannot fulfil this responsibility. How these responsibilities of the

profession translate into individual responsibilities will depend on how (and how well) the

profession organises itself.

ACTIONS BY ENGINEERS TO PREVENT CORRUPTION

Engineers can play a crucial role in preventing corruption. By practicing this, they

will not only help to avoid the damage which they as individuals and their organisations and

countries may suffer as a result of corruption. They will also be practicing according to their

professional and ethical duty to ensure that they work for the public good.

1. Individual engineers: Individual engineers can have an impact both on an individual

level and on organisational level. They are able to influence the policies of their

professional institutions. Thus, individual engineers should take the following steps:

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a) Not taking part in any activity which believed or suspect involves dishonesty.

b) Report any activity which they believe or suspect involves dishonesty, by

considering their safety.

c) Stand by the ethical code of their professional institution.

d) Lead by example. Emphasise the need for ethical conduct at all times.

e) Encourage their organisations to consider anti-corruption measures as an

integral part of corporate and project management.

2. Professional engineering institutions: Professional institutions represent individual

professionals, and ensure the integrity of their professions in their own countries.

They can have significant influence in the structure of government and corporate

policy in relation to infrastructure. Therefore, professional institutions should take the

following steps:

a) Publicly speak out against corruption.

b) Ensure that they actively promote ethical codes including express prohibitions

of corruption among their members.

c) Provide anti-corruption training and guidance to their members and

engineering students to ensure that they are aware of the risks of corruption.

d) Promote the adoption and implementation of anti-corruption measures as an

integral part of corporate and project management.

e) Work in collaboration with other professional institutions, government bodies,

business associations and companies and seek to develop a co-ordinated

approach to anti-corruption issues.

ACTION BY GOVERNMENT TO PREVENT CORRUPTION

Governments should take the following steps:

1. Make it a legal requirement that:

a) Sufficient anti-corruption method are implemented and maintained on public

sector infrastructure projects as an important part of project management.

b) Companies bidding for public sector projects implement and maintain plenty

anti-corruption measures within their own organisation.

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2. Take steps to eliminate extortion by officials in the issue of government approvals and

permits by:

a) Ensuring there are adequate controls to prevent extortion.

b) Ensuring that public sector employees are paid a reasonable wage and are paid

on time, so that they do not resort to extortion to supplement their wages.

3. Provide a reporting mechanism whereby individuals and organisations may report

corruption to the authorities in a safe and confidential manner.

4. Provide an independent and properly funded body to prevent, investigate and

prosecute corruption which operates fairly without interference from government.

5. Co-operate with a view to establishing an international court with jurisdiction over

corruption offences.

ACTIONS BY ORGANISATIONS INVOLVED IN A PROJECT TO PREVENT

CORRUPTION

1. Project owners: Organisations which own or develop projects must:

a) Implement and maintain adequate anti-corruption measures within their own

organisations by publishing an anti-corruption code of conduct, implementing

effective financial and commercial controls which help prevent corruption,

instituting disciplinary procedures for employees who fail to comply with the

policy, and implementing a confidential whistle-blowing system.

b) Implement and maintain adequate project anti-corruption measures on all their

projects.

2. Project Funders: Organisations which provide finance, guarantees or insurance to

projects must:

a) Implement and maintain adequate anti-corruption measures within their own

organisations.

b) Provide finance, guarantees or insurance in relation to a project only if that

project adopts adequate project anti-corruption measures.

3. Companies: Companies providing the works, equipment, materials and services for

projects (such as construction companies, consulting engineering firms, sub-

contractors and suppliers) must:

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a) Implement and maintain adequate anti-corruption measures within their own

organisations.

b) Encourage the implementation and maintenance

CONCLUSION

Firstly, further information available relating to ethics are most welcome and helpful

to others including more case studies, analysis of news events, and other resources connected

to ethics in the engineering profession. Secondly, the morale value from the cases in this

guide can be applied to ethical issues faced in everyday practice as an engineer. The

following questions might help in applying the cases: Please identify any issues from your

own work of which you were previously unaware? Are any of the cases in the guide closely

related to issues you or your colleagues have faced or are facing? If so, what were the

important similarities and differences between your case and the case in this guide? Has the

way the case was discussed in the guide changed the way you thought about your own case?

Would you act differently, or do you feel you should have acted differently, in the light of the

considerations outlined here?

It is important to engage with the way that ethical questions are deal with at

organisational as well as individual levels. One way of doing this would be to look out and

reflect upon material such as company codes of conduct and guides to ethics. It is also

important to reflect upon implied ethical guidance. It will be interesting and important to

determine the extent to which explicit and implicit forms of guidance cohere or conflict with

each other by considering a reflective view of how an organisation approaches and deals with

ethical issues. Engineering is a broad discipline and the case studies here cannot include all of

the ethical issues that an engineer might face. This involves asking the following questions

regarding as situation: What are the ethical values? How do these depend on and inform each

other? How can the reasons for taking a particular course of action be expressed and

defended?

Finally, engineers are invited to take a more active role in the ethical life of the

profession. Back in years ago, there has not been a clear demand for engineers to take a view

on the ethical issues affecting their profession. In this sense, engineering is different from

medicine for example. It would perhaps be surprising for a doctor not to have at least thought

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about the ethical issues surrounding such as abortion. Yet, the ethical issues in engineering

are just as real, and they too can have very vital consequences. Moreover, it is no longer

possible for engineers to avoid ethical issues than it is for doctors to do so.

A good place to start engaging with professional ethics is through professional bodies.

Some of these run training events or workshops in professional ethics, or provide web forums

to communicate with other members about these issues. Regarding specific ethical issues,

some engineers are concerned that decisions are taken out of the hands of engineers. The

same goes when engineers are involved in decisions regarding public safety. There is a

concern that they often put under pressure to agree with the decisions that the managers want

to make. When engineers are aware of illegal practices and feel that they have to blow the

whistle, it may still be very difficult for them to actually do what they feel they have to

because they may worry about the effect that being a whistleblower will have on their career.

However, industries are increasingly using confidential reporting techniques as a way

of allowing engineers to report problems and enabling lessons learned by others to be passed

on. These systems could be used across the engineering profession. Individual engineers will

have a significant role in encouraging professional bodies to put them in place. Again, ethics

is not just a set of rules that can be learned and taken for granted nor it is a simple structure

that can be applied to problems to make them disappear from views. Engaging with ethical

questions is an ongoing process that requires awareness, reasoning skills, imagination, and

the ability to examine and evaluate your opinions as well as those of others.

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