Reg no:

1. Why Engineers are considered as responsible experimenters?

The Important reasons are as follows:
Engineering projects, like the standard experiments, carried out in partial uncertinities
The final outcome of engineering projects are generally uncertain like those of other
experiments
Similar to standard experiments engineering experiments are also through knowledge
2. What are the limitations of codes of ethics?
 They cannot serve as the final moral authority for professional conduct..
 Engineering codes often have internal conflicts.
 Codes can be reproduced in a very rapid manner.
 Codes are said to be coercive.
3. Define Disaster.
Disaster is defined as a series of continued event and a state of unpreparedness.
4. State the Industrial definition on safety.
Lawrance has definition as safety “ A thing is safe with respect to a given person at a
given time, if its risks are fully known, if those would be judged acceptable”
5. What is meant by risk-benefit analysis?
It is a technique similar to cost benefit analysis, used to analyise the risk in a project
and to determine whether the project should be carried out or not
6. What are the types of accidents? Explain.
Procedural accidents- Some making bad choice or not following standards
Engineered accidents- Cause by errors in design
Systematic accidents- Difficult to understand and difficult to control.
7. Define collegiality. What are its elements?
It is “a kind of connectedness grounded in respect for professional expertise and in a
commitment to the goals and values of profession”
ELEMENTS:
1. Respect
2. Commitment
3. Connectedness

8. What does Whistle Blowing mean?

Whistle blowing is the act by an employee of informing the public or higher
management of unethical or illegal behavior by an employee or supervisor.
9. What is meant by collective bargaining?
ILO has defined collective bargaining as ‘negotiation about working conditions and
term of employeement between an employeer and one or more representive
employees with a view to reaching agreement.
10. What is a conflict of interest?
Professional conflicts of intrest are situations where professionals have an interest, if
pursued could keep from meeting one of their obligations to their employers.
PART B (5×13=65 MARKS)

11.a) i) Discuss why engineering work is seen as experimentation. (7)

Engineering is entirely different from standard experiments in few aspects. These
differences are very much helpful to find out the special responsibilities of engineers and also
help them in knowing about the moral irresponsibilities which are involved in Engineering
1. EXPERIMENTAL CONTROL:
 Reg no:

In standard experiments, members are in two different groups. Members of one group
receive special experimental treatment. The other group members, called ‗control group‘ do
not receive special treatment, though they are from the same environment in all other
respects.
But this is not true in engineering, since most of the experiments are not conducted in
laboratories. The subjects of experiments are human beings who are outside the
experimenter‘s control.
Thus it is not possible to study the effects of changes in variable on different groups.
Hence only historical and retrospective data available about various target groups has to be
used for evaluation. Hence engineering as a social experimentation seems to be an extended
usage of the concept of experimentation.
2. INFORMED CONSENT:
It has two elements, knowledge and voluntariness. The subjects (human beings)
should be given all the information needed to make a reasonable decision. Next, they must
get into the experiment without being subjected to force, fraud or deception. Supplying
complete information is neither necessary nor in most cases possible. But all relevant
information needed for making a reasonable decision on whether to participate should be
conveyed. Generally, we all prefer to be the subject of our own experiments rather than those
of somebody else.
3. KNOWLEDGE GAINED
Scientific experiments have been conducted to acquire new knowledge.
engineering projects are conducted as experiments not for getting new knowledge.
Suppose the outcome of the experiment is best it tells us nothing new but affirms that we are
right about something Mean while the unexpected outcomes put us on search for new
knowledge.
ii) Explain the importance of industrial standards. (6)
 Among many areas, industry is one which welcomes greater accuracy and quality in
respect of standards.
 Standards decrease production cost.
 Standards not only help the manufacturers but also benefit the clients and public.
 Instead of increasing the brand name can concentrate on industrial standards because
it is becoming necessity in world trade.
 The proper role of law in engineering and sincere attempts on regulations have
often failed. It would be wrong to say, rule making and rule following the future.
 Good laws effectively enforced.
 Moreover, standards serve as a powerful support and defense for those who want to
act ethically.
 Interchangibility
 Accuracy in measurement
 Ease of handling
 Prevention of harms
 Decrease production cost
 Quality products
 Etc,.
OR
 Reg no:

b) Discuss on the roles played b the codes of ethics set by professional societies. (13)
CODES OF ETHICS - ROLES OR FUNCTIONS
1. Inspiration and Guidance:
 Codes provide positive stimulus for ethical conduct and helpful guidance by using
positive language.
 Codes should be brief to be effective and hence such codes offer only general
guidance.
 Supplementary statements or guidelines to give specific directions are added by a
number of societies or professional bodies.

2. Support:
 Codes give positive support to those seeking to act ethically.
 An engineer under pressure to act unethically can use one of the publicly proclaimed
codes to get support for his stand on specific moral issues.
 Codes also serve as legal support for engineers.
3. Deterrence and discipline:
 Codes can be used as a basis for conducting investigations on unethical conduct.
 They also provide a deterrent for engineers to act immorally.
 Engineers who are punished by professional societies for proven unethical behaviour
by revoking the rights to practice as engineers are also subjected to public ridicule and
loss of respect from colleagues and local community.
 This helps to produce ethical conduct even though this can be viewed as a negative
way of motivation.
4. Education and mutual understanding:
The codes can be used for discussion and reflection on moral issues and thereby improve the
understanding of moral responsibilities among all engineers, clients, public and good
organizations.
5. Contributing to the profession‟s public image:
Codes present the engineering profession as an ethically committed society in the eyes of the
public thus enhancing their image.
6. Protecting status quo:
Codes establish ethical conventions, which can help promote an agreed upon minimum level
of ethical conduct.
7. Promoting business interests:
Codes can place unwarranted restraints of commerce on business dealings..codes help to
improve the business interests.
Limitations of Codes of Ethics
 Codes are restricted to general and vague wording. They cannot be straightaway
applied to all situations. It is impossible to foresee the full range of moral problems
that can arise in a complex profession like engg
 They cannot serve as the final moral authority for professional conduct..
 Engineering codes often have internal conflicts.
 Only a few practicing engineers are the members of Professional societies and so they
cannot be compelled to abide by their codes.
 Many engineers who are the members of professional societies are not aware of the
existence of codes of their societies and they never go through it.
 Codes can be reproduced in a very rapid manner.
 Codes are said to be coercive.
12.a) Discuss on ‘Engineers as Responsible Experimenters’. (13)
 A primary duty is to protect the safety of human beings and respect their right of
consent.
 A comprehensive perspective of relevant information.
 Unrestricted free personal involvement in all steps of a project.
 Reg no:

 Being accountable for the results of a project.

 Exhibiting technical competence and other characteristics of professionalism.
1.CONSCIENTIOUSNESS:
 Conscientious moral commitment means sensitivity to the full range of relevant moral
values.
 Sensitivity to responsibilities that is relevant.
 Willingness to develop the skill and expend the effort needed to reach the best balance
possible among these considerations.
 Conscientiousness means consciousness because mere intent is not sufficient.

Conceiving engineering as social experimentation restores the vision of engineers as

guardians of the public interest in that they are duty bound to guard the welfare and safety of
those affected by engineering projects.

2.RELEVANT INFORMATION:
1. To understand and grasp the circumstance of a persons work. It is necessary to know how
that work has a moral importance.

2. Blurring the circumstance of a persons work derived from his specialization and division
of labour is to put the responsibilities on some one else in the organization.
The above said means neglecting the importance of persons work also makes
acquiring a full perspective difficult along with a second feature of factual information. So
giving regard to engineering as social experimentation points out the importance of
circumstances of a work and also encourages the engineers to view his specialized activities
in a project as a part of a large social impact.
3.MORAL AUTONOMY

 People are morally autonomous when their moral conduct and principles of action are
their own.
 Moral beliefs and attitudes must be a critical reflection and not a passive adoption of
the particular conventions of one‘s society, religion or profession.
 Moral beliefs and attitudes cannot be agreed to formally and adhered to merely
verbally.
 They must be integrated into the core of one‘s personality and should lead to
committed action.
 It is wrong to think that as an employee when one performs ‗acts’ serving company‘s
interests, one is no longer morally and personally identified with one‘s actions.
4.ACCOUNTABILITY:
 Responsible people accept moral responsibility for their actions.
 Accountability is the willingness to submit one‘s actions to moral scrutiny and be
open and responsive to the assessment of others.
 It should be understood as being culpable and blameworthy for misdeeds.
OR
b) i) State the necessity of Risk benefit analysis. (7)
Risk-benefit analysis is a method that helps the engineers to analyze the risk in a
project and to determine whether a project should be implemented or not. It is very much
closer to cost-benefit analysis. In risk-benefit analysis, the risks and benefits of a product are
allotted to money amounts, and the most benefitable ratio between risks and benefits is
calculated. But it is a very difficult job, as the risks are much harder to quantify and more
difficult to put a realistic price tag on.
Both risks and benefits lie in future. So, there is a chance for heavy discounting of
future because the present low value of costs or benefits will not give a true picture of future
distresses.
 Reg no:

Both have similar uncertainties but at the same time it is very difficult to arrive at
expected values
What are all the benefits of one person may be risk to another
Can we express risks and benefits in a common set of units? For example, when the
risks can be expressed in one set of units (deaths on the high way and benefits in another, we
can find only the ratio of risks to benefits for different designs when comparing the designs.

REASONS FOR RISK-BENEFIT ANALYSIS

1. Risk-benefit analysis is concerned with the advisability of undertaking a project.
2. It helps in deciding which design has greater advantages
3. It assists the engineers to identify a particular design that scores higher with that of another
one.
ii) Distinguish between Employee rights and Professional rights. (6)
Employee rights - Employee rights are any rights, moral or legal which refer to the status of
being an employee. These rights include some of the professional rights such as the right to
disobey the unethical instructions and the rights to express their dissatisfaction on the
company policies without any bad effects from the side of the employer. It also implies all the
basic human rights which are reasonable to the situation of employment such as the right of
not to be discriminated against. Employee rights also have the institutional rights which arise
safely out of an employee‘s contracts created by organizational policies or contracts. These
rights are known an ―Contractual Employee Rights‖. The rights to receive a salary of a
certain amount, right to receive some company‘s benefits such as periodic increments in the
pay and profits sharing etc, are some examples of contractual employee rights. Another form
of employee‘s rights are called. ―Non Contractual Employee Rights.‖ These are the rights
that occur even if not formally recognized in the specific contracts or company policies.
These rights include right to choose outside activities, right to employer confidentiality, right
to due process from employer and right to non discrimination and absence of sexual
harassment at the work place.
Professional rights –
1. The right to express one’s professional judgment freely.
2. The right to refuse to carry out illegal and unethical activities.
3. The right to talk publicly about one’s work within bounds.
4. The right to be involved in the activities of professional bodies.
5. The right to protect clients and the public from the dangers of one’s work and
6. The right to professional recognition for one’s services.
A few important other professional rights are
The right of professional conscience
Institutional recognition of rights
Specific rights recognition
1.Conscientious refusal rights
To engage in unethical behavior
2.Recognition rights
Extrinsic rewards, Intrinsic rewards
13.a) Explain the significance of intellectual property rights. Also explain the elements
of intellectual property rights. (13)
An idea, a design, a manuscript, an invention, or a concept which will give rise to a
useful product/application, is known as an “Intellectual Property”
The problem with an intellectual property is that it can be copied, imitated or reproduced.
Protection of Intellectual Property Right:
 Reg no:

O Trade Secrets
O Patents
O Copyrights
O Industrial Designs
O Trademarks
O Trade Secrets: When an individual or an organization owns an intellectual property,
does not disclose the property to any one and keeps it as a “secret” to safeguard his
business interests, is called “Trade Secret”.
O Patent: The right granted by government to an inventor to prevent others from
imitating, manufacturing, using or selling his invention for commercial use during a
specified period, is known as “Patent” or Patent Right”
O Trade Secrets: When an individual or an organization owns an intellectual property,
does not disclose the property to any one and keeps it as a “secret” to safeguard his
business interests, is called “Trade Secret”.
O Patent: The right granted by government to an inventor to prevent others from
imitating, manufacturing, using or selling his invention for commercial use during a
specified period, is known as “Patent” or Patent Right”
O Copy right: the copy right is limited both in time and extent. Copy right provides
protection for a specified period from reproduction of materials either in full or in
part.

OR
b) i) Explain in detail the relationship between safety, risk and cost. (7)
 It is always a great challenge to engineers to balance quality and safety against cost.
 In general, engineer’s tendency is to design and produce high-quality products, but
business managers tend to keep the cost down.
 Therefore it is necessary to understand the relationship between safety, costs and price

Safety
Risk High Low
High High safety and high risk high cost, Low safety and high
high price risk, low cost, high price
Examples: Nuclear plant, aircraft, Examples: Automobiles
missiles
Low High safety and low risk high cost, Low safety and low risk,
Medium price low cost and low price
Examples: Electrical products, safety Examples: Electronic
valves. goods, computers.

ii) Write notes on: Personal risk, Public risk. (6)

 Reg no:

Personal risk :If sufficient risk given by the person , then he can able to decide
whether to participate in a risky activity or not
Many experiments have concluded that individuals are more willing to face voluntary
risks are more harmful than involuntary ones.
Personal risks are difficult to access especially if they are involuntary personal risks.
Public risk: Risk benefits are public to the at large can be more easily determine than
the personal risks and benefit. Because
Because individual differences are tend to even out as larger number people are
considered
Assessment studies relating to technological safety can be conducted in better manner
for public risk than for personal risk, as statistical parameters take on greater signifance.
14.a) Discuss the concept of confidentiality with respect to professional ethics. (13)
O Keeping confidence or confidentiality is the most important duty of any professional.
O Lawyers must keep clients’ information confidential.
O Doctors must keep information about their patients confidential.
O Teachers must keep personal information about their students confidential.
O Employed engineers must keep information about their companies and clients
confidential
O Confidential information is the information which is desirable to keep secret in a
government department or a private company.
O Engineers and the employees are expected to keep information “confidential”.
O They are expected not to leak out any confidential information to unauthorized people
both inside and outside the company
CONFIDENTIALITY RELATED TERMS :
 Privileged information ”(Assignment)
 “Proprietary information” (Ownership)
 Trade secrets
 Patents
Privileged information: is a similar expression for “confidential
information”. Privileged information means the information that will be available
only on the basis of special privileged.
O Special privilege means accorded to an employee working on a special assignment.
O Proprietary information:
“ Proprietary information” is an information that a company owns. It is the
information owned by the proprietor in a legal sense. This means “Property” or
“ownership”.
O Trade Secrets:
 Reg no:

It can be any type of information that has not become public and which an
employer has taken steps to keep secret.
O Patents:
Patents legally protect specific products from being manufactured and sold
by competitors without the permission of the patent holder.
OR
b) i) Write short notes on occupational crime. (7)
O Occupational crimes are illegal activities in one’s company or an organization.
O It is the violation of laws regulating the work activities.
O When workers or professionals are committed, occupational crime is called “White –
Collar Crime”
Types of Occupational crimes:
1. Industrial Espionage (industrial spying)
2. Price fixing
3. Endangering Lives
Industrial Espionage (industrial spying)
It means betraying(spy) one’s own company to other companies for his own benefits
or gains.For example, the army secrets, of our own country and atomic energy secret were
once sold to Pakistan.
Price Fixing:

Law prevents companies from fixing the price of a product that will prevent free competition
and trade, but this sort of habit is often violated by many industries.
Endangering Lives:
O Employers who expose their employees to safety harazads escape criminal penalties,
but the victims will sue the companies for compensation under civil law.
O Workers are prone(chances) to diseases like heart diseases, lung diseases, eye
problems when they happen to work in chemical industries.
ii) Discuss the significance of loyalty and collegiality in team work. (6)

O LOYALTY:

“ The state or quality of being TRUE.

It is more a function of attitudes, emotions and sense of identity.
 TWO SENSE OF LOYALTY:
O Agency loyalty

O Identification loyalty

Agency loyalty:
 Reg no:

 It is to fulfill one’s contractual duties to an employer (They not like job, they hate
the employees but still perform their duty as a employer)
Identification loyalty:
O Much concerned with attitudes, emotions and sense of identity.( Employee should
meet his moral duties to the organization)
O Collegiality is the relationship between colleagues.

O Colleagues are those explicitly united in a common purpose and respecting each
other's abilities to work toward that purpose.
O A colleague is an associate in a profession in office.

O the word collegiality can cannot respect for another's commitment they towards the
common purpose and ability to work toward it.
ELEMENTS OFCOLLEGIALITY:
O Respect (give respect for working collegues)

O Commitment (Sharing the moral idea towards work)

O Connectedness (Awareness of being a part of undertaking)

15. a) What is meant by Whistle Blowing? Give example for it. State and explain the
main features that characterize Whistle blowing and the measure to prevent it. (13)
It is alerting relevant persons to some moral or legal corruption, where ‘relevant
persons’ are those in a position to act in response, if only by registering protest.
Ex: politicians to bring out their corruption by publishing articles or informing regulatory
authorities.
1. Rights Ethics
 All should have moral rights, and any action that violates these rights is
unethical.
2. Duty Ethics
 There are duties that should be performed, without considering much about
moral rights.
3. Utilitarinism
 The greatest good is promoted by allowing engineers to practice their
obligations
OR
b) i) What is meant by Respect for authority? How institutional authority differs
from
Expert authority. (7)

 Authority is the right to make a decisions, right to give orders

SOURCES OF AUTHORITY

1. Institutional Authority

2. Expert Authority

3. Power Authority
 Reg no:

Institutional Authority

O It means the institutional right given to a person to exercise the power based on the
resources of the institution.

O Institutional authority (or) the institutional right is given to the individuals in

order to meet their institutional duties.

For example, the task of a manager are:

1. To allocate money or other resources

2. To make policy decisions; and

3. To supervise the project and issue directives subordinates on particular jobs.

Expert Authority

O It means the authority given to the individual best qualified to serve their
institution’s goals in a given capacity.

O But in practice, there is not always a perfect match between the authority granted and
the qualification needed to exercise it.

O Expert authority also means the possession of special knowledge, skill or

competence the tasks and to give sound advice.

ii) Write a brief note on Discrimination. (6)

O The word discrimination means preference given to an employees on the grounds of
race, nationality etc., whether such preference is justified or not.
O Discrimination means morally unjustified treatment of people, an arbitrary or
irrelevant ground.
O Discrimination also means “preferential (unwanted or angry) treatment”
O Employees should not be discriminated because of race, skin colour, age or religious
outlook.
PART C (1×15=15 MARKS)

16. a) Briefly discuss the Space Shuttle Challenger accident. What are the ethical
problems involved in this? (15)
OVERVIEW:
• JAN-28,1986 – 7 AUSTRONAUTS KILLED.
• Reason- The failure of the solid rocket booster ‘O’ Rings.
• Failure reasons
– Faulty design
– Joints of O rings
– Temperature testing
– Lacked communication between diff levels of NASA
FAILURE REASON:
• The failure of the solid rocket booster ‘O’ Rings allowed hot combustion gases to leak
from the side of booster and burn through the external fuel tank.
 Reg no:

• Engineers were involved in every aspects.

• Basically SHUTTLE cannot produce enough thrust.
• So we introduce solid rocket boosters.
• solid rocket boosters produce more thrust
PURPOSE OF O RING:
• To prevent hot combustion gases from escaping inside the motor.
DRAWBACK OF SOLID ROCKET BOOSTER:
• Once SOLID ROCKET is BOOSTER is IGINITED it cannot be turned off or control
• Example like NUCLEAR POWER PLANT
LAUNCH DELAYS:
• 1st delay due to Weather condition
• 2nd delay due to Record setting Low temperature.
• THIKOL knew the problem of the booster as 1977
• Redesign at 1985
• Almost half of the shuttle flights corrosion in ‘O’ ring erosion
NIGHT BEFORE LAUNCH:
• At the before night of launching temperature is very low( Ice forming temperature)
• Re schedule launch in order to discuss the low temperature.
• The arranged for the technical presentation about ‘O-Ring’ in cold condition.
• After the technical presentation, Engineers don’t want to launch the challenger.
• The higher authorities told that
“Take off your Engineering hat and put on your management hat”.
• The NASA Team Decision not to launch.
ON THE TIME TO LAUNCH:
• On that day temp at 18 degree Fahrenheit
• Water molecules are forming in to ice condition.
• Due to ice formation Struck left hand booster
• ‘O’ Rings allowed hot combustion gases to leak from the side of booster and burn
through the external fuel tank and makes disaster.
ISSUES FOR DISCUSSION:
• Several issues are relevent to engineers.
• The issues raise many questions which may not have definite answers
• The management peoples are not trained much as decision in engineering part.
• We understanding the responsiblities of engineers :
– Social contract between engineering and society
– Guidance of the codes of ethics in socties
• Engineers have a responsiblities to protect safety and well being of the effort of a
public in all other professional efforts.
• Professional Duties – To hold paramount the safety, health, welfare of the public
in the peformance .
OR
b) Summarize the chronology of events that led to ‘Bhopal Gas Tragedy’. (15)
There are two main lines of argument involving the disaster. The "Corporate Negligence"
point of view argues that the disaster was caused by a potent combination of under-
maintained and decaying facilities, a weak attitude towards safety, and an undertrained
workforce, culminating in worker actions that inadvertently enabled water to penetrate the
MIC tanks in the absence of properly working safeguards.
 Reg no:

The "Worker Sabotage" point of view argues that it was not physically possible for the water
to enter the tank without concerted human effort, and that extensive testimony and
engineering analysis leads to a conclusion that water entered the tank when a rogue individual
employee hooked a water hose directly to an empty valve on the side of the tank. This point
of view further argues that the Indian government took extensive actions to hide this
possibility in order to attach blame to UCC.
Theories differ as to how the water entered the tank. At the time, workers were cleaning out a
clogged pipe with water about 400 feet from the tank. They claimed that they were not told to
isolate the tank with a pipe slip-blind plate. The operators assumed that owing to bad
maintenance and leaking valves, it was possible for the water to leak into the tank.
This water entry route could not be reproduced despite strenuous efforts by motivated
parties. UCC claims that a "disgruntled worker" deliberately connecting a hose to a pressure
gauge connection was the real cause.
Early the next morning, a UCIL manager asked the instrument engineer to replace the gauge.
UCIL's investigation team found no evidence of the necessary connection; the investigation
was totally controlled by the government, denying UCC investigators access to the tank or
interviews with the operators
Causes of the disaster: The "corporate negligence" argument
This point of view argues that management (and to some extent, local government)
underinvested in safety, which allowed for a dangerous working environment to develop.
Factors cited include the filling of the MIC tanks beyond recommended levels, poor
maintenance after the plant ceased MIC production at the end of 1984, allowing several
safety systems to be inoperable due to poor maintenance, and switching off safety systems to
save money— including the MIC tank refrigeration system which could have mitigated the
disaster severity, and non-existent catastrophe management plans. Other factors identified by
government inquiries included undersized safety devices and the dependence on manual
operations Specific plant management deficiencies that were identified include the lack of
skilled operators, reduction of safety management, insufficient maintenance, and inadequate
emergency action plans.
The Little report argues that this evidence demonstrates that the following chronology
took place:

 At 10:20pm, the tank was at normal pressure, indicating the absence of water.
 At 10:45pm, a shift change took place, after which the MIC storage area "would be
completely deserted".
 During this period, a "disgruntled operator entered the storage area and hooked up one
of the readily available rubber water hoses to Tank 610, with the intention of
contaminating and spoiling the tank's contents."
 Water began to flow, beginning the chemical reaction that caused the disaster.
 After midnight, control room operators saw the pressure rising and realized there was
a problem with Tank 610. They discovered the water connection, and decided to
transfer one ton of the contents out to try and remove the water.
 The disaster then occurred, a major release of poisonous gas.
 The cover-up activities discovered during the investigation then took place.
 After over 30 years, S.P. Choudhary, former MIC Production Manager, broke the
silence and told the truth about the disaster that it was not an accident but the result of
a sabotage that claimed thousands of lives, a former official of the Union Carbide
India Limited (UCIL) told the district and sessions court.
Reg no: