Should The Engineer Of Record Be Required To Be A Licensed Professional Engineer?

Engineers, contractors, and other businesses must be mindful of and knowledgeable of their legal obligations when performing their occupation or supplying a product. Negligence in the design or construction of a product that results in damage or bodily harm, or could result in damage or bodily harm, can result in liability for economic loss under Canadian Tort law. Engineers, architects, and contractors need to be respectful of their duty of care to ensure their product is precisely produced with no danger of negligence.

Ontario’s Deadly Exception: An Argument for the Repeal of Section 12(3)(a) of the Professional Engineers Act

In an engineering workplace it is important for the employee to report accidents as this is part of the RIDDIR legislation and this needs to be followed by the engineering industry. By following the legislation you can prevent any accident or incidents occurring to any employee or employer within any workplace.

Students learn about building and maintaining bridges, airports, highways, railroads, buildings and reservoirs. This construction degree requires knowledge of business, economics, management and engineering. Construction engineering is different from construction management because students focus on the math, science and engineering principles used to design projects, analyze problems and create quality solutions. Students learn about commercial, residential, transportation and infrastructure designs, plans, systems and models. They learn about cost estimating, project planning, staff scheduling, material procurement, equipment selection and temporary structures. Graduates will work in the construction industry and enjoy the status of a being professional

The first fundamental canon of the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) Code of Ethics states that engineers “hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public.” The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) takes it a step further by amending the NSPE canon and adding that chemical engineers “protect the environment in performance of their professional duties.” These ethical standards were placed in order to prevent contaminations to maintain a healthy work environment, and prevent the general public and environment from being harmed. The “Aberdeen Three” case is an instance of three knowledgeable and high ranking engineers, as well as the United States army, disregarding the safety of the public or their

First adopted in 1914, the code of ethics for the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is the model for professional conduct for all ASCE members. The code of ethics is an excellent model as it is broken down into eight canons for further understanding. The purpose of each canon is to serve as a guide and reminder for professional engineers that they are to have the moral and ethical integrity the profession calls for at all times while holding safety paramount. The ASCE code of ethics is very informative and insightful because although each canon does not go into great depth, the canons leave room for interpretation under different situations.

With the constant discovery of scientific principles and new engineering designs, the responsibility often lies in the hands of engineers to decide what is in the best interest of the public. Millions of people around the world use products and structures developed by engineers, every day. Before accepting work from a client, it is important that engineers have a good understanding of their own personal limitations. If work is accepted that they are “not competent to perform by virtue of [their] training and experience” , there is a clear disregard for public welfare and potential for a serious safety hazard. It is again evident that the

When engineers design a product many things go in to the decision making process when it comes to selecting materials, design, and the manufacturing processes. One concern that has always been in the decision making process is trying to make sure the outcome will always be ethically good, although this isn’t always the case. Try as they might, no person is perfect, and accidents do happen. When engineering disasters happen there are many factors that may be involved, such as human factors, design flaws, extreme conditions, and materials failures. When these things do happen it is important to look at the ethical aspect of each part of the failure and

Industrial Engineers often face the ethical dilemma of attempting to balance costs with quality and safety. Company management pressures Industrial systems engineers to design processes that are cost efficient, time constrained, and produce a high quality output. This puts the engineer in a tricky balancing act in which they are trying to make every stakeholder happy. Taking risks in order to create cost efficient solutions is not specific to only industrial engineers but applies to all disciplines of engineering, making this topic a relevant discussion. However, this conflict is especially true in a manufacturing setting where industrial engineers thrive, machine operators are often overworked, companies make products in high stakes, large batches, and the range of quality acceptance is growing ever smaller. A relevant example is the engineer who was designing a chemical plant in Mexico. In order to achieve the correct viscosity of the paint stripper, the engineer asked the plant operator to babysit the chemical mixture and manually release the valve when necessary. Engineering management’s decision puts the plant worker at a safety risk in order to achieve a tighter quality and standardization of the chemical stripper production process. Ultimately, this resulted in the catastrophic death of the plant worker and the destruction of the plant.

Many engineers work in laboratories, industrial plants, or construction sites where they inspect, supervise, or solve onsite problems. (Britannica 244) Engineering itself has a sort of chain of command in the way a project is handled. It follows in the

As mentioned above, it is very important for engineers to understand their own responsibilities. In 1960, the Conference of Engineering Societies of Western Europe and the United States of America defined "professional engineer" as follows:1 “A professional engineer is competent by virtue of his/her fundamental education and training to apply the scientific method and outlook to the analysis

This guide is available as an abridged published document, and as a full set of case studies available online, including an in-depth discussion of the place of ethics in engineering. It is our intention to update and add to the case studies over time, reflecting the changes in technology and society that affect engineering ethics. Ethics, like engineering, is a practical subject, and its exercise is in debate and discussion. We hope that these case studies are used to stimulate discussion between engineers, to help individuals, and the profession as a whole, to advance their understanding of the ethical issues in engineering. How to use this guide The purpose of this guide is to supplement the SEP with discussions, clarifications and illustrative personal experiences that will bring the ethical issues in engineering to life. The guide is also intended to

Many times, risks faced by contractors exist at no fault of their own. That is, in some cases the contractor is bound by a design that places specific hazards on the construction site. Designers who are cognizant of and responsive to their effort on construction safety would aid in making jobsites safer for construction workers (Gambatese et al, 1997). Situations such as these led the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to create a safe design concept, prevention through design. Prevention

Ethics by definition are defined as a set of moral rules of conduct that are accepted by general public and should be obeyed by everyone. Ethics are essential to the architecture of a modern dynamic society and play a vital part in engineering or any other businesses. Ethics provide guidance to humans to pursue a course of action correctively in specific situations, and prevent us from the ones that would have negative or drastic consequences. Ethics clarifies what is good and bad on the basis of moral principle or values. Regardless of which particular field the engineer is in (e.g. civil, electrical or mechanical), their main liability and responsibility are to ensure the health, safety, and general welfare of the public are protected to the highest level possible. Since almost the work done by engineers can have great impact on almost all aspects of our daily life, any design schemes or implementations that are made by engineers must meet the highest standard to ensure that no damages or potential damages to any resource, people, organization or environment will exist. Many organizations, like the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ) have established a set of code of ethics to

Several cases have led to an awareness of the importance of ethics within the engineering profession as engineers realize how their technical work has far-reaching impacts on society. The work of engineers can affect public health and safety and can influence business practices and even politics.’’(Fledderman,2004)