Whistle blowing

ETHICS IN ENGINEERING
S A N TA N U B O R A H
B .TEC H , 7TH S EM ES TER , M EC H A N IC A L EN G IN EER IN G
G IM T-G U W A H ATI
EM A IL ID : S A N TA N U 986@ G M A IL.C O M
IN TRO D U CTIO N

Ethics is the branch of philosophy that

examines right and wrong moral
behavior, moral concepts (such as justice,
virtue, duty) and moral language.
Engineering Ethics is defined as the
rules and standards in their roles as
professionals.
What is Ethics? Rushworth Kidder states that "standard
definitions of ethics have typically
included such phrases as 'the science of
the ideal human character' or 'the science
of moral duty'"
O rigin of Ethics
"Divine Command Theory of Ethics states that ethics
originates from Gd : that Gd commands is arbitrarily
good and ethical.
C od e of Eth ics for En g in eers (excerpt of NSPE)
I. Fundamental Canons
Engineers, in the fulfillment of their professional duties,
shall:
1. Hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the
public in the performance of their professional duties.
2. Perform services only in areas of their competence.
3. Issue public statements only in an objective and
truthful manner.
4. Act in professional matters for each employer or
client as faithful agents or trustees.
5. Avoid deceptive acts in the solicitation of professional
employment
W histle Blow ing

1. A whistleblower (whistle-blower or whistle

blower)is a person who exposes any kind of
information or activity that is deemed illegal,
unethical, or not correct within an organization that
is either private or public
2. The term whistle-blower comes from the whistle a
referee uses to indicate an illegal or foul play.
3. It was first applied to government employees who
"go public" with complaints of corruption or
mismanagement in the public or government
organization.
Salient features of
w histle blow ing:
1.Real information
2.Evidence of wrongdoing
3.Morally motive to correct the
wrongdoing
4.Unselfish
5.Anonymous
6.Within the organization
7.Clear target of whom to whistle is
blown
R isk of w histle blow er and case studies:
1. Frequently fired
2. Lost promotions
3. Lost lives
4. such as Sherron Walkin, Coleen
Rowly, Cynthia Cooper lost lives for
blowing whistle for 9/11 bombing
5. Satyendra Dubey, Civil engineer from IIT
Kanpur lost his life for a national high
way construction case
6. Roger Boisjoly from Space Shuttle
Challenger,1986 who failed to convince
the management for taking action against
low temperature condition which results
in destruction of the space shuttle.
SubansiriLow er H ydroelectric Pow er Project
and m y Ethicalresponsibility as Engineering
student
Located at 2.3 km upstream of Gerukamukh village in
Dhemaji and lower Subansiri District on the border of
Assam & Arunachal Pradesh
Expected capacity 2,000 MW
Status: Under construction
Environmental issues-
Unfavorable terrain of area
Seismic zone-6 is lowered to zone-5
Massive deforestation in Arunachal Pradesh
38 families will be displaced on completion of the dam
Is W histle-Blow ing Justifi
ed?

Strong corporate ethics culture

Clear lines of communications within
corporate
All managers must have meaningful access to
high level managers to bring their concern
forward
Willingness of management to admit mistakes
References

Dr. P.K.Dutta, H.O.D. Mechanical Engg. Dept., GIMT-

Guwahati
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whistleblower
http://www.astronsolutions.net/the-importance-of-whistle-
blowing/
https://www.nspe.org/resources/ethics/ethics-
resources/other-resources/whistleblowing-what-have-we-
learned-challenger
THANK YOU