Category: Ethics

Introduction

Most cars in our time are in the 1 and 2 stages of autonomy. Mostly, control is carried out by the driver, but cruise control, automatic parking and the like are used. Large companies (Google, Toyota, Tesla, Volvo) strive to achieve complete automation of car movement. This technology shows its high development prospect and, therefore, continues to develop. Unbelievable progress has been made in the autonomous vehicle industry over the past few years. In 2014, the professional association SAE International proposed the classification of unmanned vehicles depending on the degree of automation. The classification includes six levels  from zero to full automation.

General Statistics on Autonomous Vehicles

In mid-November 2019, Gartner calculated how many autonomous vehicles appeared in 2018 and 2019. It turned out that in 2018 the total number of new unmanned vehicles was 137,129 units, and in 2019 it doubled and amounted to 332,932 units (Gartner, 2019) According to analysts, by 2023 the number of autonomous cars will reach 745,705 units. The increase will be mainly observed in North America, Western Europe and China, since the countries of these regions will be the first to introduce unmanned driving rules (Dhawan, 2019, p.15). Although the forecast promises a rapid increase in the number of autonomous vehicles, the fact is that by November 2019 in no country in the world regulations have been adopted to legally operate autonomous vehicles. Manufacturers are not ready to invest in the development of models that cannot enter the market in the foreseeable future.

The Responsibility of Manufacturers and Drivers. Research Thesis

The lack of regulations is associated, in particular, with the difficulty of determining the legal liability of manufacturers and drivers of autonomous vehicles. Obviously, in the ethical aspect, the level of responsibility of manufacturers of such cars is no less than the responsibility of pharmacological companies, since in both cases it is about ensuring the safety of people. Testing autonomous vehicles should be no less rigorous than clinical trials. For example, despite numerous tests, the sensors and cameras of unmanned vehicles do not yet know how to fix all the details while driving.

Legal responsibility cannot be considered outside the ethical parameters of the operation of unmanned vehicles. Moreover, the development of the concept of legal responsibility should be based on ethical assessments, at least from the standpoint of the ethics of utilitarianism. For autonomous vehicles to become a universal good, engineers will have to teach the system how to make difficult decisions (Li, Zhang, Wang, Li, & Liao, 2018, p. 2-3). What should artificial machine intelligence do when it comes to a choice: either knock down a pedestrian or crash into a lamppost, endangering the life of the driver? Who should be given priority in this dilemma? In such situations, a person reacts spontaneously, but the choice of car is programmed initially. Thus, legal liability should be based precisely on ethical parameters. Given the long process of developing a precedent base, the ethical principles of the operation of autonomous vehicles will help legislators to develop appropriate regulations on the division of responsibilities between the manufacturer and the driver for different levels of vehicle autonomy. The extent of ethical operational parameters of autonomous vehicles and their impact on development and legal liability

Operation of Autonomous Vehicles

Different types of automation. As noted above, the autonomy of unmanned vehicles, i.e., their level of independence of the driver is rated on a scale from 0 to 6. Levels are set by SAE International, a professional association of automotive engineers. SAE standards have been adopted for use by government regulators, engineers, and car manufacturers, as well as investors (Ryan, 2019, p. 6). They describe six levels of automation: from its absolute absence to a fully automated control system, which means a system that behaves like a qualified driver in any situation. One can talk about autonomous driving already from the second level, on which the autopilot system resembles that used in passenger aircraft. This means that most of the way one can use autopilot, but the driver must take control in cases where the system cannot cope on its own  for example, in an emergency road situation. The autopilot can be turned on or off at any time at the will of the driver and controls steering, vehicle speed, and braking. At level 5, a person is not required to do anything except start an autopilot and determine a destination. In other words, the Level 5 system must travel to any place where a qualified driver can drive, under any conditions that a qualified driver can handle, completely independently. However, while cars of the 5th level of automation are only in the plans of many large companies. Unusual situations can often arise on the roads, and the logical question arises  if artificial intelligence can successfully cope in all such cases.

Transition to autonomous vehicles and challenges on the road. Jean-Francois Bonnefon and his colleagues say that people generally support the idea that in a critical situation, the car must crash into the wall or somehow sacrifice the driver to save more pedestrians. At the same time, the same people want to drive in cars that protect the driver at all costs, even if it will result in the death of pedestrians (Bonnefon, Shariff, & Rahwan, 2016). Such a conflict puts computerized car manufacturers in a difficult position. Between the car, which is programmed for the benefit of the majority, and which is programmed to protect the passenger, the vast majority of buyers will choose the second.

Comparison with the human decision process in driving situations. The authors of the study on the social dilemma of autonomous cars believe that there are other difficult moral issues in this area. Autonomous vehicles will have to make decisions in emergency situations whose consequences cannot be predicted in advance (Merat & Jamson, 2017, p. 514-515). Is it permissible, for example, to program a car so that it avoids a collision with a motorcyclist by crashing into a wall? After all, the passenger of the car in this case is more likely to survive than the motorcyclist who collides with the car. A high level of process automation without complete autonomy can create a false sense of security for the driver. This means that it will be difficult for drivers to quickly take matters into their own hands if the automatic control system ceases to cope. That is why proponents of full automation offer as soon as possible to move to what is called the fourth level according to the classification of SAE  autonomy without driver involvement in the process of movement in certain areas. For example, the car that Ford plans to launch in production in 2021 will be fully automated  it will have neither a steering wheel nor a brake pedal. This means that the driver will not have to take over the control of the vehicle at some point  it will know what to do in any situation (Bagloee, Tavana, Asadi, & Oliver, 2016, p. 288). In this regard, a logical question arises about the very need for full automation of cars.

The first and main reason is the desire to reduce mortality in accidents provoked by driver errors. The human factor overtakes all technical problems together (the brakes failed, the gas pedal stuck, the navigator directed into the abyss, and so on). However, it should be remembered that artificial intelligence is also not without flaws. Let us draw an analogy with aviation, where the primary and most important problem in creating autopilots is also to maintain flight safety. In case of violation or breakdown of the autopilot, it is imperative to turn off the system in the usual way or mechanically. When developing an autopilot, options for disabling it in the event of a breakdown without harm to flight are carefully thought out. To increase security, control automation operates in multi-channel mode. In parallel, four piloting systems with the same parameters and capabilities can work simultaneously. The system also carries out continuous analysis and monitoring of incoming information signals. The flight is carried out on the basis of the so-called quorumation method, which consists of making decisions on the data of most systems (Cusick, Cortes, & Rodrigues, 2017, p. 26). In the event of a breakdown, the autopilot is able to independently select a further control mode. This can be a switch to another control channel or a transfer of control to the pilot. To check the operation of systems, it is necessary to carry out the so-called preflight run of systems. This test consists of starting a step-by-step program that emulates flight signals. Whether such a run is carried out before the start of the movement of the unmanned vehicle is a rhetorical question. Moreover, whether automatic transmission control is provided for the pilot of an autonomous vehicle in the event of an emergency or breakdown is a matter of critical importance. Also, unlike, for example, an airplane engine failure, a tire that has burst out at full speed will not give time lag for reflection and taking measures  if the car moves at high speed, then when one of the wheels is destroyed, it is almost impossible to avoid an instant catastrophe.

Ethical parameters of autonomous vehicles

Safety of Self-Driving Cars

When introducing unmanned vehicles, real problems began to appear, which analysts had only predicted before. In February 2017, a car with an autonomous control system developed by Google fell into a small accident. Lexus RX450h, bypassing an obstacle on the road, touched a bus moving nearby, as it incorrectly calculated the possible actions of its driver, deciding that he would give way. Then Google admitted its partial fault for the incident and said that it had made changes to the software of their cars in connection with it. In May of the same year, a fatal accident occurred with a Tesla car moving with the autopilot function turned on (Martinez-Dias & Soriguera, 2018, p. 177). This case will only strengthen the discussion and development of legislative provisions and regulations, as well as ethical concepts for the operation of autonomous vehicles.

Advancement of Artificial Intelligence and Ethical Concerns

Due to the fault of autopilots in planes, there were many crashes and accidents that led to human casualties. Unfortunately, the history of air crashes caused by automatic control systems is very rich in the facts of the unreliability of such systems, and this is despite the very strict principles of certification of such systems and state regulation in this industry (Cusick, Cortes, & Rodrigues, 2017, p. 64). This also makes it possible to cast doubt on the reliability of autopilots in cars, since in this case high competition in the industry, pushing automakers to launch new models on the market as soon as possible, leads to a reduction in time and costs for R&D, including autopilots. The pursuit of greater profits and the seizure of a larger segment of the market may push security concerns into the background.

Need for Human Input in Emergency Situations

When programming unmanned cars, scientists solve a dilemma: programming a car to save drivers or pedestrians. Autonomous cars can revolutionize the transportation industry, but they pose a social and moral dilemma that can slow down the spread of this technology (Bagloee et al., 2016, p. 286) The goal of the creators of unmanned vehicles  to make car traffic safer and more efficient  is noble, but naive. Hundreds of nuances of movement on the roads of a particular country and even a specific city play a role that cannot be reduced to the task of increasing the efficiency of movement. Researchers have gathered opinions about what moral principles should be guiding for self-driving cars in emergency situations when it is impossible to avoid human casualties and there is the need to choose the lesser of evils. Respondents from different countries disagreed on many points, such as the need to care primarily about saving children, women, or those who follow the rules of road traffic. The revealed differences correlate with the well-known economic and cultural characteristics of countries and regions (Holstein, 2018). The study showed that developing a universal moral law for self-driving machines would not be easy. It is unclear how self-driving cars should behave in emergency situations, when the distribution of risks between people depends on the decision made by artificial intelligence. It is expected that autonomous vehicles will fall into such situations less often than cars driven by human drivers. However, still, sometimes this will necessarily happen, which means that artificial intelligence must be ready to solve moral dilemmas in the spirit of the famous Trolley Problem.

The Trolley Problem

In a number of other studies of the trolley problem in relation to unmanned vehicles, it turned out that in general the majority of respondents supported the so-called utilitarian approach, that is, in any situation, approve a solution that would lead to a minimum number of victims. At the same time, the adoption of such a decision as a law was approved by fewer participants, especially if it was a question of their car, and not of the situation as a whole (Anderson et al., 2016, p.8). To solve this problem, a simple solution is proposed at first glance  a car, even in an emergency, must strictly adhere to the rules of the road. However, again drawing an analogy with aviation, we recall that there is a clause in the airline guidelines that the pilot flying the aircraft has the right to deviate from any instructions if he acts based on experience and knowledge and in order to complete the flight. Namely, the human factor, or rather, human intelligence and its creativity can save the lives of passengers, which an onboard computer can do neither in an airplane nor in a car.

The human factor affects the navigation of unmanned vehicles much more than it seems, including in a negative sense. Engineers taught cars to obey traffic rules, but they do not know how to properly respond to violations of other drivers (Cunningham & Regan, 2015). If someone speeds up or cuts off the car, this can lead to a navigation failure due to the lack of appropriate algorithms. In the future, this problem can be solved using V2V (vehicle to vehicle technology). Namely, this service helps planes avoid collisions: they exchange information about their position, speed, and direction. However, for now, an automotive analog of the service is only in development. Moreover, technology will have an effective impact only if the vast majority of cars on the road are equipped with it.

Legal Liability

Driver Behavior and Liability. Manufacturer Liability.

In addition to technological challenges, for the transition to the mass use of autonomous cars, many issues have to be addressed at the level of legislative regulation. Normative documents are needed that define the basic technological and legal concepts in this area, regulate the possibilities of using such technologies in general, responsibility in case of incidents with unmanned vehicles, etc.

The problem of legal regulation of autonomous vehicles can negate all its advantages. Due to the need for legal regulation, it is necessary to determine the composition of administrative offenses and criminal offenses associated with the use of unmanned vehicles (Ryan, 2019, p. 18). Also, it is required to identify the subjects of civil liability for causing property damage through the fault of unmanned vehicles. All these problems remain unresolved and require the development of a new legislative framework that will regulate this side.

Current Existing Laws

In one form or another, regulatory documents in this area have already been submitted or are being developed in some countries. The United States has especially advanced here: in 2011, Nevada was the first state in the country to begin regulating the use of autonomous vehicles on the roads and issues related to their insurance, safety, and testing (Smith, 2014, p. 415). Arizona lawmakers in the United States tried to pass legislation regulating the use of unmanned vehicles on state roads. However, they could not solve the core problem: who should be responsible for the accident that occurred with the participation of the autonomous car: the owner of the car, the company that developed the technology, or the automaker who made and sold the car? In California, in December 2015, authorities announced preliminary rules for unmanned vehicles. The fixing of these rules in the form of law is necessary before one of the vehicles can be sold to consumers. They require drivers, if necessary, to be ready to take complete control of their car. The regulations proposed by the California Department of Automobiles suggest that drivers remain responsible for complying with traffic regulations, whether they are driving or not.

Legislators also propose that part of the responsibility be placed on the autonomous car operator (Ryan, 2019, p. 19). The operator is the passenger, but the right to complete passivity will not be recognized for him soon. If the operator sees a dangerous situation and illogical actions of the autopilot, his duty is to intervene and try to avoid the danger. There is a contradiction: technology offers to relax, and the law keeps in suspense. Questions regarding the responsibilities of people with disabilities also remain open.

The prosecution when the accident occurs due to a semi-autonomous car does not differ from the situation when the accident occurs with the participation of the car under the control of the driver. The presence of autopilot can affect the issue of accountability only if the manufacturer claims full autonomy of the car without the need for human control for safe movement. In this case, the fact of an accident due to a defect in autopilot may be the basis for laying civil liability  compensation for harm  on manufacturers, as well as bringing to justice individuals who are guilty of a defect. Here we are talking about shifting responsibility from the owner of the car to its manufacturer and responsible individuals. Some authors have proposed that manufacturers be strictly liable for personal injuries caused by driverless automobiles (Hubbard, 2015, p. 1867). Never before have manufacturers faced the need to produce cars with protection against the fact of an accident or from mistakes made by other drivers. In the case of autonomous cars, questions arise regarding the correctness of the decisions made by the car based on the algorithms laid down in it. As long as the cars require the presence of a driver, improper operation of the autopilot should not be considered as a defect that leads to an accident. The presence of autopilot should not affect the rules of accountability applicable for accidents involving a conventional car. An exception may be the situation when the owner of a car with an autopilot proves that he did not know about the need to constantly monitor it.

Discussion on Future Legal Frameworks

Unmanned vehicles open up a new legal world. In the case of ordinary cars, the responsibility for the incident is likely to rest with the person sitting inside the car. But an unmanned vehicle is a hardware-software complex, which is influenced by many parties, the experts explain: the manufacturer of the car itself or special equipment, the developer of the artificial intelligence system for it, the service, and the owner of the fleet to which it attributed to. It will not be easy to find the culprit among them.

Risk insurance offers for unmanned car drivers already exist. The passenger (driver) ensures his liability in case of an incident, as well as his life and health. Such insurance has two functions: it allows (especially the earlier versions) to relax along the way and protects manufacturers of unmanned vehicles from claims  in this case, insurance companies take responsibility. The European Parliament proposes to think about the special legal status of the electronic personality for complex robots that make independent decisions  then they can be blamed for compensation for the damage caused by them. One of the proposals of the European deputies is to create a special fund, by analogy with car insurance, from which damage would be compensated when there is no usual insurance coverage. The European Parliament has called on insurance companies to develop new products appropriate to the development of robotics (Ryan, 2019). Now auto insurance covers only human actions and mistakes, and the insurance system for robots should take into account all possible liability.

It should be noted that the introduction of innovative technologies in any area of our lives entails changes, including in the legal field. Accordingly, it is necessary that the legal regulation of this sphere be ahead of actual technical implications and that, with reasonable regulation and protection of the interests of subjects of various legal relations, it would not deter, but contribute to the development of advanced technologies in the interests and under the control of the human mind.

Conclusion

Summarizing Main Points

The research in the field of ethical and legislative implications of autonomous vehicles spread and development allow concluding that today, it is one of the most uncertain and challenging areas both for ethics and justice. Both the development of a universal moral law for self-driving machines that clearly defines the algorithm for action in a critical situation, and the development of the necessary legislation is very difficult and even somewhat deadlocking. However, a comparison with the aviation industry suggests the advisability of requiring the driver to monitor the situation while the car is moving and to be able to turn off the autopilot if necessary and take control.

Potential Recommendations

Driver comfort should not be placed above public safety. Thus, the production of cars without a steering wheel and pedals (something that corresponds to the fifth level of autonomy and what all well-known automakers strive for), at least in the near future seems impractical. In addition, this will simplify the problem of legislative regulation in the field of unmanned vehicles, by clearly distributing responsibilities between the driver and the automaker. The black box data in each case will help determine the cause of the accident. Moreover, it can eliminate ethical dilemmas of AI decision-making, described above. The experience of aviation can become a solid base for considering the ethical and legal implications of autonomous vehicles.

Final Statement

As autonomous vehicle technology expands and becomes more popular, manufacturers and lawmakers must collaborate to create ethical boundaries and capabilities in line with legal liabilities according to the applied jurisdictions to ensure safety and efficient implementation.

References

1. Anderson, J. M. et al. (2016). Autonomous vehicle technology: A guide for policymakers. RAND Corporation. ISBN: 978-0-8330-8398-2.
2. Bagloee, S., Tavana, M., Asadi, M., & Oliver, T. (2016). Autonomous Vehicles: Challenges, Opportunities and Future Implications for Transportation Policies. Journal of Modern Transportation, 24(4), 284-303.
3. Bonnefon, J. F., Shariff, A., & Rahwan, I. (2016). The social dilemma of autonomous vehicles. Science, 352(6293), 1573-1576.
4. Cunningham, M. & Regan, M. A. (2015). Autonomous Vehicles: Human Factors Issues and Future Research. Proceedings of the 2015 Australasian Road Safety Conference, 14  16 October, Gold Coast, Australia. Web.
5. Cusick, S., Cortes, A., & Rodrigues, C. (2017). Commercial aviation safety. NY: McGraw-Hill Education. ISBN: 9781259641824.
6. Dhawan, C. (2019). Autonomous vehicles plus: A critical analysis of challenges delaying AV nirvana. Victoria, Canada: FriesenPress. ISBN: 1259641821.
7. Gartner (2019). Use autonomous vehicle automation levels and usage scenarios for your product alignment strategy. Web.
8. Holstein, T. (2018). Ethical and social aspects of self-driving cars. ARXIV, 18.
9. Hubbard, F. P. (2015). Sophisticated Robots: Balancing Liability, Regulation, and Innovation. Florida Law Review, 66(5), 1803-1872. doi: Web.
10. Li, S., Zhang, J., Wang, S., Li, P., & Liao, Y. (2018). Ethical and legal dilemma of autonomous vehicles: Study on driving decision-making model under the emergency situations of red-light running behaviors. Electronics, 7, 1-18.
11. Martinez-Dias, M. & Soriguera, F. (2018). Autonomous vehicles: theoretical and practical challenges. Transportation Research Procedia, 33, 275-282.
12. McBride, N. (2015). The ethics of driverless cars. SIGCAS Computers & Society, 45(3), 179-184.
13. Merat, N. & Jamson, A. H. (2017). How do drivers behave in a highly automated car? Proceedings of the Fifth International Driving Symposium on Human Factors in Driver Assessment, Training and Vehicle Design, 514-521.
14. Ryan, M. (2019). The future of transportation: Ethical, legal, social and economic impacts of self-driving vehicles in the year 2025. Science and Engineering Ethics, 25(109), 1-24.
15. Smith, B. W. (2014). Automated Vehicles are probably legal in the United States. TexasA&M Law Review,1(3), 412-521.

Introduction

Technological advancement has increased the usage of computer applications. Computers are increasingly being used to perform various tasks. The increase in usage of computers, as a consequence, has increased the demand for software development. Many software development companies and individuals have come up. Unlike in the past where software development was a reserve of a few, today there are many software developers all over the world. The availability of many software developers has consequently changed the way computer applications are developed. Many software development companies are increasingly using offshore software development. Software development outsourcing is on the increase with many small-scale software development companies coming up in such countries as India. Although viewed as a means of cutting the cost of software development, offshore outsourcing of IT projects can raise various ethical issues. The paper reviews ethical issues in international software development and tries to propose possible solutions.

Growth in outsourcing Practice

Outsourcing has been on the increase in the recent past. Technological advancement especially in information technology has contributed to the increase. Many industries such as accounting, legal, writing, and software development have benefitted from outsourcing. Through outsourcing, organizations can access various services without having to employ permanent individuals to offer the services (Gold, 2004, p. 17). The major motivation for outsourcing has been cutting costs. Many organizations have been motivated by the amount of money they can save to outsource some services. Apart from cost-cutting, organizations are motivated to engage in outsourcing by the ability to access various services that they require.

Outsourcing in Software development

There has been an increase in offshore software development in the recent past. An increase in software development outsourcing is evidenced by the increase in IT Business Process Outsourcing companies. IT BPOs companies have been on the increase in almost all parts of the world. IT services outsourcing is an important economic activity in such countries as India. Offshore software development has been motivated by various benefits. The major motivation for software development outsourcing has been the ability to reduce the cost of IT projects. Apart from cost, the scarcity of professionals has been motivating organizations to opt for outsourcing software development. IT projects are usually involved and require a long duration of time to complete. Organizations have been using software development outsourcing companies to reduce the duration of time required for software development. Despite the various benefits of software development, there are various ethical issues that are involved. Some ethical issues constitute ethical issues affecting the outsourcing industry in general. Other ethical issues evolve from the process of software development; ability to meet software objectives, compromise on quality, use of illegal software, data privacy, and intellectual property rights.

Ethical Issues in Offshore Software development

Software development has emerged to be an important activity in modern times. Computer applications are being used in the provision of many services and the performance of very important tasks. Computer applications are used in organizations to manage the operation, manage data, and other tasks. Computer systems are also used in managing sensitive data or running sensitive operations such as financial, security, and health system (Sahay, Nicholson & Krissna, 2003, p. 79). Because of the importance of computer systems, care is required in developing IT Projects. Some IT projects however fail. The main reasons for failure include the inability to meet project objectives, bad planning, technological challenge, poor project management, and incompetence of developers (Nindel-Edwards, 2008, p. 6). The major cause of failure, however, is when the objectives of a project are not well specified at the beginning of a project. Poorly specified objectives can be led to the development of software that does not serve the intended objectives, leading to a waste of resources and time.

Software development is usually an involving task that requires considerable time and effort. Designing and developing an IT project require competence and dedication from the software development team. The high demand for software applications has led to an increase in the number of software development outsourcing companies. The companies receive orders for the development of either a whole IT project or the development of some modules to a project. The outsourcing companies are usually under pressure to deliver products within short time frames.

Apart from the time frame, outsourcing companies are under pressure to keep software development cost down for them to remain profitable. Under this pressure, outsourcing companies are likely to lower the quality of service and be involved in unethical practices.

Quality

Quality is an important factor in software development. IT projects are expected to be of high quality. The software should be able to perform its intended functions. The quality of an IT project is depended on the amount of dedication from developers. The developers must dedicate enough time to IT projects for them to be able to come up with an application that performs as intended. To produce quality services developers must have enough time to understand project specifications and be able to plan on how to achieve the objectives. The developers need to understand what their applications are supposed to perform before starting their project (Nindel-Edwards, 2008, p. 8). This means that the project development cycle has to be adhered to in order to produce quality work. This, however, is not always followed in offshore software development.

Offshore software development can lead to lowering of quality. Outsourcing software developing companies are under pressure to deliver services within a short time frame. Besides, most outsourcing firms are tempted to pick jobs that are beyond their capacity to deliver. Time limit tempts offshore software developers to lower quality. The companies are more concerned with meeting strict deadlines other than ensuring quality. Failure to dedicate enough time to an IT project can have various implications. It can lead to programs that do not meet project specifications and thus fail to perform intended. Offshore software development may lead to some security issues being comprised. Failure to dedicate enough time and resources to security faults being left in an application. In addition, some offshore software developers fail to give testing and debugging the importance that they require. Production of software that is not adequately tested may compromise software users and lead to high losses.

Substandard projects can compromise important aspects of an organization. Poor programs would imply that organizations would not be able to accomplish their intended objectives. Substandard projects would also compromise the quality of services provided by an organization. Failure of a substandard program may have a very high pecuniary effect on an organization especially when it affects an organizations customers. Bugs in an IT project can lead to highly negative implications for an organization (Nindel-Edwards, 2008, p. 7). Errors can lead to the loss of sensitive data to a company. Failures resulting from errors can lead to severe negative effects especially when an application is used in sensitive areas such as in health care.

Use of Illegal Software

Offshore project development tempts developers to use unauthorized software in their development. Offshore software developers are involved in the development of software under various platforms (Gold, 2004, p. 61). Because of the strict timetable and need to reduce cost, some software developing outsourcing companies can be tempted to use pirated software or fail to comply with licensing requirements. Some offshore software developers are individuals with low resource capacity. Thus, they are more likely to give in to using inauthentic software.

Use of Reverse Engineering Technology

Pressure to deliver IT projects within a short duration of time temp offshore software developers to use reverse technology. This involves decompiling a software application to access source code (Kehal & Singh, 2006, p. 67). Reverse engineering brings about ethical issues on infringement copyright. Offshore software developers are tempted to use this technology in order to meet deadlines of avoiding tasks involved in developing software from scratch. Reverse technology can lead an organization to legal battle leading to loss of a lot of money through litigations.

Professional Competence and Integrity

Software development outsourcing companies and individuals have been increasing at a high rate. Unlike in conventional software development companies, there is less control of individuals involved in outsourcing software development. Because of the high demand for outsourcing services and high returns from the services, some individuals can be tempted to be involved in software development d despite not having the required qualifications. There is no clear way of ensuring the professional competence and integrity of the developers. Professionally incompetent developers can compromise the quality and other important aspects of a computer application. Incompetent developers can develop a substandard application that can not only fail to perform as required by also compromise security. Integrity is an important requirement for a software developer. Unprofessional developers may fail to uphold a high standard of integrity leading to high negative implications (Gold, 2004, p. 67-9).

Data Privacy

Data security is an important consideration in IT projects. Some applications are used to perform very sensitive tasks in an organization. In project development, developers are exposed to very important information to an organization. Some of the information, if leaked to a third party, can have very bad implications on an organization (Rashid, 2009, p. 21). Software developers are expected to keep any information on an organization or application secret. They are not expected to unnecessarily share information on their project and are supposed to ensure that the security of an organization or computer system is guaranteed. Offshore software development can open doors for security threats. Some offshore developers may fail to guarantee security because of incompetence, hurry, or malicious motives.

Poor working environment

The poor working environment is an important ethical consideration when choosing an outsourcing company. Some outsourcing companies use exploitative human resource practices in their service. Employees work for long hours with little returns.

As the main motivation for outsourcing is to cut costs, many outsourcing companies are set up in places where there is a low cost of labor (Flatworld, 2010, par. 5). As a consequence, outsourcing companies are tempted to offer low wages for services that they would have paid highly in other places.

A solution to Ethical Issues in Offshore Software Development

Offshore software development is a major sub-industry in the IT industry. Software development outsourcing can help to satisfy the high demand for software. Ethical issues in international software development, however, are a threat to the growing industry. Ethical practice in software development can have very severe effects. Errors in applications such as health systems can even be a threat to life. To overcome the ethical issues, there is a need for regulation on software development outsourcing.

International software development has been developing at a high rate. Initially, India was the main country that was mainly involved in software development outsourcing. Today, many countries are involved in software development outsourcing. Many software development outsourcing companies are small and cannot able to regulate themselves. In some cases, individuals are involved in development making it hard to ensure ethical practice.

Ensuring ethical practice should be viewed as a collective duty by all stakeholders in the IT industry. There should be an international framework to regulate software development outsourcing. Although some countries such as India have developed frameworks to ensure ethical practice on outsourcing software development, many other countries do not have any framework. International regulation is the only possible way of ensuring ethical practice in every part of the world. The international regulation could be operated in form of certification.

Software development outsourcing companies that meet set international ethical criteria would be certified.

Certification will make it easier for an organization to identify ethical outsourcing companies to outsource their It projects.

Conclusion

International software development has become very important in the IT industry. Software developers in modern IT projects come from various countries with different cultural backgrounds. Software development outsourcing has especially become an important option for IT projects. Software development outsourcing help in cutting the cost of IT projects. Although international software development has various benefits it raises various ethical issues. Some ethical issues include lowering quality, use of illegal software, reverse engineering, and employees exploitation. To overcome these ethical challenges, it is important to have international regulations. International regulation in form of certification can ensure high-quality outsourcing products and contribute to growth in the IT industry.

Reference List

Flatworld. 2010. Ethics of Outsourcing. Web.

Gold, T. 2004. Outsourcing software development offshore: making it work. CRC Press, London.

Kehal, H. & Singh, V. 2006. Outsourcing and offshoring in the 21st century: a socio-economic perspective. Idea Group Inc, New Delhi.

Nindel-Edwards, J. 2008. Ethical Issues in the Software Quality Assurance Function. Communications of the IIMA. Vol 8. No1.

Rashid, A. 2009. Software Engineering Ethics in a Digital World. Computer. Vol. 42 No.6 pp. 34-41

Sahay, S., Nicholson, B. & Krissna, S. 2003. Global IT outsourcing: software development across borders. Cambridge University Press, New York.

Engineers usually have to design products and help in the implementation of these designs. In the course of doing their work engineers face situations that are tough to decide on in relation to their ethics. It is wrong for an engineer to go against their codes of conduct but at times they are forced to. In other situations, they are usually confused on what decision to make and this is what constitutes the engineers dilemma.

Recently in the Kenyan media there was a situation in which a road engineer had been approached by the government to aid in the design and construction of a road in the Langata area. He was expected to do it on a piece of land on which some investors had constructed business buildings and apartments.

The pros of constructing the road include enhancing the transportation of goods thus improving the economy of the country and easing traffic which will lead to reduced time spent on traffic jams and development for road users in the area. The cons, on the other hand, included the demolition of buildings that had been constructed with a lot of money and were running profitable business, and the destruction of peoples homes.

My view on this situation is that the engineer should go ahead and construct the road. The buildings should be brought down and the owners transferred to other parcels of land. The government should help them construct other business buildings in those new parcels of land. This way the traffic jams along the area will be eased and at the same time the investors will comfortably carry on with their businesses.

Personal ethical statement by (customers name)

Cost saving should not be a priority when human life is involved. Engineers should spend more when saving human life. A mechanical engineer was asked by his client to use thinner construction metals in bringing up a tall building in a certain town although the engineer knew very well that this could cause the building to collapse at any time thus endangering human life.

On the other hand, he was so willing to help his client save on the cost of construction. Both sides of the engineers decision are attractive thus he is in a dilemma. It is a tough situation but he had to try and make the right decision.

Ethics and team work

It is expected that people coordinate and consult among themselves when working as a team. Trying to do anything alone without consulting with your team members is unethical and should be avoided at all cost. Derailing other peoples effort is also unethical, however, it is ethical to try and work in the direction of your team mates.

Work effort can be doubled when all the team members work hand in hand with each other. Coordination is a key factor in a team that has success as its major aim. Work submittal is also expected to strengthen the team work. Every member of the team should work with all their effort to ensure they achieve their goal as a team.

Personal interaction is another important factor that should be taken into consideration when handling any team work. The team members need to develop good communication skills and ethical interpersonal relations if they are expected to work in a team. A potential adversarial interaction can see the team fail terribly. Enmity and competition within the group will cause demotivation and reduce the cooperation levels and this will negatively impact the success of the team.

Engineers are the professionals who are the masterminds of projects. Specifically civil engineers are the ones who oversee the construction of buildings, roads and other structures. According to findings of American Society of Civil Engineers (2000), in their day to day work, they encounter various problems concerning their professionalism. It is important to note that when a problem happens in the construction industry the first accusing finger is pointed towards the civil engineer who was assigned to the structure in question. Some of these problems are caused by engineers who fail to stick to the ethics of engineering. This paper reviews some of the reasons behind the setbacks in construction industry.

A major constraint in any engineering practice, especially multinational corporations, is the international law. An international agreement is not a law in a country but it binds all the members of that association while a law is applied in a country and it varies from one country to another. Thus, it has an impact on the delivery of engineering or spatial science projects in any particular country. An example of international agreements is the forest principles of the Rio Earth Summit which applies to countries that are members of the United Nations. This agreement encourages governments to preserve forests. For instance, before the construction of a building or any other structure commences the engineers are the ones who are responsible of verifying the plan of the building and they act as the project managers because they are the ones who man the entire process of construction. They are the ones who schedule tasks and determine the timeline that the project should take (Kelleher, 2005).

In addition to that, they are the ones who compute the budgets of projects. Sweet and Schneier (2008) argue that all of the above tasks are supposed to be carried out with honesty. Engineers are supposed to make their decisions without being manipulated but some of them fall in this test may be due to greed. They are faced with a dilemma of delivering projects that meet customer requirements and at the same time satisfying their personal needs.

There are engineers who are corrupt because they are bribed by those who supply building materials in order to grant them tenders for supplying the said materials. According to Madhavan, Oakley, and Kun (2008), sometimes the materials are of poor quality which can be dangerous to the stability of the structure in question. This is also another form of negligence which often results in the collapse of the structure. This happens when engineers are selfish and are not concerned about the welfare of others because when a building collapses its not the engineer who is injured but the construction workers and other people who are adjacent to the structure.

Kelleher (2005) explains that when such things happen, the engineer in question may loose his/her membership and certificate of registration in addition to being sued in a court of law. Engineers are supposed to ensure that their employer, that is, the project developer fulfills all the legal requirements before the commencement of a project.

Sometimes the engineers themselves sabotage the efforts of their fellow engineers hence an engineer should be vigilant at all times. Engineers are supposed to withhold details concerning the owner of the structure that they are working on. Engineers are prone to being manipulated by those in influential government offices to obtain money fraudulently by over estimating the budget of the project. But then this vice cannot go unnoticed because if the project is evaluated by surveyors, they are most likely to notice that the quality of work on the ground does not correspond to the proposal on paper.

An example of how negligence can lead to loss of lives is the Tay bridge disaster which took place in December 1879. In this disaster the bridge was brought down by a strong wind that was accompanied by a heavy down fall of rain. It is perceived that the engineer who was in charge of its construction used materials of low quality. Perhaps he/she did this to save some extra bucks but then he ruined his reputation due to the many lives that were lost on that particular day (Christou, 2005).

Therefore, engineers should adhere to the ethics of engineering because they are not only answerable to governments in their respective countries but also to God. An engineer should always interpret and evaluate the consequences of his/her actions because overlooking issues can be disastrous as mentioned above.

Reference List

American Society of Civil Engineers., 2000. Standards of Professional Conduct. Reston, Virginia: ASCE Press.

Christou, R., 2005.Boilerplate: Practical Clauses. 4^th Ed. London: Sweet & Maxwell Limited.

Kelleher, T., 2005. Smith, Currie & Hancocks Common Sense Construction Law. 3^rd Eds. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.

Madhavan, G., Oakley, B. & Kun, G., 2008. Career Development in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, New York: Springer Science and Business Media.

Sweet, J. & Schneier, M., 2008. Legal Aspects of Architecture, Engineering and the Construction Process. Stanford, CT: Cengage Learning.

Ever since the death of the French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist Rene Descartes, men have been striving to understand the human body to prolong life as they wish. Up to the time of his death in 1650, Descartes was deeply concerned with how he could prolong his own life and modern scientists have picked up this pursuit. According to scientists, life is a part of the natural world and as such, it can be studied by standardized methods. Scientists claim that the results of these investigations are innate laws of nature, which like any field can be expressed using the lingo of arithmetic. Equipped with an understanding of the existing laws of nature, man can manage and influence the processes of life to work to his advantage. Although this has not yet been attained, the vision is still alive within science. This paper aims to present an overview of modern biotechnology in the breeding of poultry and to look at the possible side effects on both the consumer and the chicken.

Ever since the death of the French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist Rene Descartes, men have been striving to understand the human body to prolong life as they wish. Up to the time of his death in 1650, Descartes was deeply concerned with how he could prolong his own life and modern scientists have picked up this pursuit. According to scientists, life is a part of the natural world and as such, it can be studied by standardized methods. Scientists claim that the results of these investigations are innate laws of nature, which like any field can be expressed using the lingo of arithmetic. Equipped with an understanding of the existing laws of nature, man can manage and influence the processes of life to work to his advantage. Although this has not yet been attained, the vision is still alive within science. Over time, it has however emerged that Descartes and his colleagues underrated the task of understanding and calculating the processes of life. (Thompson 35)

In fact, it was not until the beginning of the 20^th century that scientists were able to make authentic progress in elucidating and conveniently altering the processes of life. Since the rediscovery of Mendelian genetics, there has been an evident improvement of reproductive expertise to make selective reproduction more proficient. Towards the 21^st century, cloning of embryos, transvaginal oocyte recovery, and in vitro embryo production was adopted to ensure that animals possessing excellent genetic potential produced more progeny than they would naturally have had. By looking at the current trend, it is obvious that a lot is still in the pipeline as far as animal biotechnology is concerned. The aim of this paper is to present an overview of modern biotechnology in the breeding of poultry and to look at the possible side effects on both the consumer and the chicken. (Baillie & Casey 96)

The subject of animal biotechnology cannot be complete without examining the issue of animal welfare. Even though it is currently a focus of a scientific investigation, the theory of animal welfare is hard to delineate, especially when one wants to broaden it beyond the scope of chicken health. Usually, animal health is taken to represent both bodily health and behavior and is assessed with consideration to both the chicken and its ability to cope with the environment around it. Potentially, there are diverse types of chicken wellbeing problems linked to breeding for high production effectiveness and the application of biotechnology can crop up. These problems can be linked to an assortment of factors, such as the genetic appearance, the propagation method, or alterations in transgenic chicken. (Boer & Vorstenbosch 458)

Moral concerns relating to animal health are often related to a consequent diminution of chicken wellbeing, e.g. increased egg production is likely to cause a higher incidence of coccidiosis, (Domingo 1749) which will, in turn, cause a reduction of chicken welfare. In fact, several authors have outlined in their work that the use of biotechnology has the potential of causing suffering to poultry. (Domingo 1749; Drake & Vlachos 651) One explanation for this is the perspective of the existing expertise to make chicken production more effective, and hence put upper pressure on the chicken than is seen today, thus further aggravating a situation previously considered undesirable. Presently, if pain, distress, or infection has not got in the way of production effectiveness, the condition has often been overlooked, as happens with production-related infections. This priority of output over animal wellbeing is a moral dilemma in poultry production and is not specific to the use of biotechnologies. (Pusztai)

Today, a broiler chicken has the ability to grow to a weight of close to 2kgs in less than 40 days. Thirty years ago, a broiler needed close to three months to attain this weight but this has drastically changed within that period. Due to this accelerated growth, the muscles and gut develop fast but the skeleton and cardiovascular systems do not reciprocate this fast growth. This discrepancy in growth makes the chicken have weak legs and possible heart failure. (Pusztai) Due to the large muscular development that turkeys have been bred for the male birds are now too big and therefore are unable to mount the females. This has necessitated the need for artificial insemination to reproduce. Additionally, the turkeys often suffer from acute leg malfunctions, as their weak bones cannot support their weight. Research in this field has also proved that the broilers and turkeys have reduced immune response thus increasing their susceptibility to diseases. This research also shows that the broilers and turkeys in this category have increased levels of stress and are therefore more likely to develop stress or even die at a faster rate than their relations. This is probably due to their unusual muscle composition and the unusual size of their heart. (Drake & Vlachos 651)

Perhaps to do justice to the whole issue of biotechnology on chicken, it is important to mention that its application helps in the introduction of genes that stand for disease resistance. If applied in the right manner, this has the capability of reducing suffering and serves to improve the welfare and health of the chicken. Additionally, the natural selection might help in ensuring that only chicken with desirable qualities that will give rise to enhanced egg production or even better quality of meat is allowed to breed. However, this theory has limitations since the objectives of research on disease resistance in biotechnology chicken are usually production-related diseases, which in effect might encounter higher production thus recreating the same problems but this time at an enhanced production level. Of main concern is that genes linked to disease resistance have the likelihood of possessing unanticipated consequences, which nullify the anticipated improvements. (Kuiper & Noteborn 1316).

On top of the existing concern of animal biotechnology on chicken, there has been growing concern in recent years over the effect that this has on the consumers. It is indeed worth mentioning that biotechnology foods produce varied effects on consumers. On a wide level, these foods are known to be beneficial to the human body since the eggs get from the chicken contain low levels of cholesterol, which is helpful to the body. Additionally, the level of fat content in the meat can be modified in quality and quantity to ensure that they correspond with the levels recommended by medics. Indeed, labeling the changed products to appeal to targeted consumers and make them identifiable to those who need to avoid them would be an effective way of marketing such foods. Another notable benefit of biotechnology is that it has the capability of producing equal food while utilizing fewer chickens. This potentially reduces pollution and it is, therefore, a great advantage to the environment. (ONeil & Reese 7)

Apart from these rather apparent benefits, it is important to note that there are existing health concerns over the consumption of cloned chicken. Currently, there is limited understanding of the physiology of animal biotechnology on human beings. There have been researches linking growth hormone genes to diseases like high blood pressure, kidney failure, diabetes, and bone malfunctions. (Holland & Johnson 26) Additionally, the meat from cloned chicken has the likelihood of containing antibiotic residues, which might potentially harm people. The antibiotic residues can also develop antibiotic-resistant pathogens due to the medicine used to camouflage chicken health issues. Although the research done in this field is still wanting, there is a need for one to tread cautiously to avoid possible health complications arising from this matter. (The National Academy of Sciences)

The ability to produce enhanced and cost-effective food in a more efficient manner is frequently cited as an argument in support of modern chicken breeding and its dependence on biotechnology. This is a potential for cheaper food and improved food production in developing nations. Means to achieve this objective are however available and analysts are questioning if the use of biotechnology poses any ethical difference. It is obvious that poor countries could greatly benefit by using various biotechnologies, and this leads to the argument that these countries are more justified in using the technology than the already developed nations, which currently have a surplus of food production. However, this presumes that these technologies be made available to the poor nations for them to be able to produce their own food. Indeed, increased food production in the developed nations is unlikely to be of any help to the poor nations. There is also a rising concern that scientists might use this technique to introduce human pathogens into chicken, which is an entirely unethical issue. (Ackerman 48)

For a long time, scientists have been trying to look for ways to influence life. However, their big break can at the beginning of the 20^th century after the discovery of Mendelian genetics. In debating on reproduction objectives and biotechnology, one of the chief concerns is that of animal wellbeing. However, the majority of the problems arising in connection with animal wellbeing also crop up with conservative selective reproduction. Regardless of the technique of breeding, queries arise on whether the intention of the breeding goal is important, and whether that intention can warrant certain risks. For medical research, the risks are more easily acknowledged, since in this accord the benefit might be essential to humans. In poultry production, the risks are however unacceptable especially in the case where the risks are undertaken to produce cheaper food.

There seems to be a consensus that the adoption of biotechnology should be regulated, although it is still uncertain what type of organization, and at what echelon, is best placed to execute such a regulation. It is, however, important to learn that there is existing legislation that offers some significant protection of animal wellbeing in spite of the breeding method employed. On the other hand, efforts should be made to advance, implement, and control the available legislation to cushion chicken from potential threats to their wellbeing. However, even if the threats of abridged chicken welfare were done away with, other fears and threats would still be at hand thus calling for open public appraisal. These are concerns such as the side effects of animal biotechnology for consumers and the potential risk to the chicken and the environment at large.

Works Cited

Ackerman, Jennifer. Food-How Altered. National Geographic, 2011. 48-53. Web.

Baillie, Harold & Casey, Timothy. Is Human Nature Obsolete? Genetics, Bioengineering, and the Future of the Human Condition, 2005. MIT Press, 95-100. Print.

Boer, Michael, & Vorstenbosch, James. An Ethical Evaluation of Animal Biotechnology: The Case of Using Clones in Dairy Cattle Breeding. Animal Science. 453-463. Print.

Domingo, Lewis. Health Risks of Genetically Modified Foods: Many Opinions but Few Data. Science 288, 2000. 1748-1749. Print.

Drake, James, & Vlachos, David. Evaluation of Transgenic Event 176 Bt Corn in Broiler Chicken. Poultry Science, 1998. 648-653. Print.

Glenn, Linda. Ethical Issues in Genetic Engineering and Transgenics, 2004. Web.

Holland, Allan & Johnson, Andrew. Animal Biotechnology and Ethics, 1998. Springer, 25-31. Print.

Kuiper, Henry, & Noteborn, Harry. Adequacy of Methods for Testing the Safety of Genetically Modified Foods. The Lancet. 1315-1316. Print.

ONeil, Chris, & Reese, George. Allergenic Potential of Recombinant Food Proteins. Allergy and Clinical Immunology International, 1998. 5-9. Print.

Pusztai, Arpad. Genetically Modified Foods: Are They a Risk to Human/Animal Health?, 2001. Web.

The National Academy of Sciences. Animal Biotechnology: Science Based Concerns, 2002. Web.

Thompson, Paul. Food Biotechnology in Ethical Perspective, 2007. Springer, 34-36. Print.

Facts

I am an Engineer in a reactor building company, working in the section of thermal-hydraulic analysis. I recently talked to a colleague (Eric) who informed me that there had been a potentially fatal incident at Toledo plant. Eric is an engineer at Eight Mile Road Hearsay. According to him, there was an increase in pressure in the cooling system of Toledo plant. This led to automatic opening of the relief valve to get rid of extra steam and restore normal pressure. Instead of closing, the relief valve remained open even after pressure in the cooling system had sufficiently reduced. Troubles started when the machine indicated to the operator that the valve had closed when it was still open. As a result  thinking there was sufficient pressure in the cooling system  the operator decided to terminate the High-Pressure Injection. This significantly lowered pressure in the system (Hauser-Katenberg, Katenberg, & Norris 377).

Too low pressure in the cooling system leads to uncovering and overheating of the core to the melting point. When core starts melting, it emits radioactive particles that are very dangerous to all forms of life. To avoid such occurrences in future, I wrote to my boss suggesting that we put in place the measures to ensure all plants with similar designs are operated with caution. I later learned from my boss that my application had been rejected on the grounds that the information I had given was not official. She, therefore, requested that I seek official communication from Hearsay. When I contacted my colleague at Hearsay, he said he could only find time to write an official communication after two months. Therefore, I need to make a decision on what to do next.

Stakeholders, my Duties and the Law

A number of stakeholders will be affected by my decision. My boss and her bosses will be affected because their work depends on my work. Other employees in my company will be affected by any changes that may come as a result of my decision. Employees, owners and communities living around firms that have designs similar to Toledo plant will be directly affected. The Nuclear Regulatory Committee and the entire nuclear industry will also be affected by whatever decision I make (Hauser-Katenberg, Katenberg & Norris 378).

As an engineer, I have a duty to uphold the highest engineering professionalism and code of conduct (Hauser-Katenberg, Katenberg, & Norris 378.) In this case, as a thermal-hydraulic analyst, I have the obligation to ensure that employees and members of the public are protected against any harm that may result from malfunctioning of thermal-hydraulic systems. I also have a duty to protect my employer from losses that may result from faulty functioning or legal suits related to damage. In my line of work, I have a duty to keep my boss informed on matters that may affect the operation of the firm. The law requires that engineers decisions be always guided by the need to guarantee public safety. In this regard, I owe this duty to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission which are responsible for the nuclear plants to administered in a manner that protects everyone.

Options

After having consulted with colleagues in my department and the companys safety officer, I managed to identify some options. The first option is to wait until I receive official communication from Hearsay. Although this is an easy option, it is still dangerous because accidents may not wait. The second option is to resign because I have failed to guarantee safety. But this could only be appropriate if I have exhausted all other options. Apparently, the biggest impediment in this matter is to obtain official communication. In this case, the third option is to find any other person who is privy to the incident at Toledo to provide official communication. My colleague at Hearsay can help me identify the appropriate person for the task. If my seniors were not using the issue of official communication as an excuse not to act, then this option would work if approved by my colleague at Hearsay. My fourth option is to inform the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to compel my bosses to act. But it also seems too early to take such a route. Therefore, the only realistic option at this point is to look for someone who can officially communicate to my company. After the communication is received, I will assess the reaction of my bosses and decide the next course of action.

Justification

Any decision in this matter has to be guided by the need to avert potential accidents (Hattingh & Seeliger 6). It would be unfortunate if we failed to take necessary actions even after having received early warnings. Accidents that can result from this kind of faultiness are potentially fatal. Radioactive emissions resulting from burning core can cause short-term and long-term life-threatening complications to employees. Members of the public who stay in close proximity to such plants may also be at high risk. In addition, there can be heavy losses to shareholders due to plant destruction. Sometimes overheating can cause fire. This can destroy everything including lives of employees and entire plants. Therefore, there is need to do everything possible to avert any accidents that may result from malfunctioning of nuclear plant cooling systems (Hattingh & Seeliger 7).

The option of waiting for two months would be easier and feasible. At the end of the two months, official communication would be availed and necessary actions taken. This would protect employees, communities and the plant owner from possible accidents. I will also perform my work as an employee to ensure my employer is protected against legal suits related to negligence. I will serve my boss by providing the information she needs to perform her duties. The only problem is that accidents may happen when we are still waiting for official communication.

As for another option, my boss may be forced to implement my request if I decide to step down. In this case, my resignation is likely to attract intervention from other stakeholders and lead to implementation of my idea. This would protect employees and communities from health complications and shareholders from financial loss.

The option of reporting the matter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission would attract the immediate action to have my idea implemented. The commission has the authority to enforce decisions and machinery to make follow-ups. This option has the ability to yield maximum results (Shuman, Besterfield-Sacre & McGourty 7).

The most realistic option is to look for someone who can officially communicate the matter to my company. It is my duty to serve my boss with the necessary material for the required action to be taken. This would preserve the good working relationship between us. With regard to my duty to protect employees, members of the public and owners of various plants, I need an option that takes the shortest time to put in place necessary measures. The only way I could do this without neglecting the rights of any stakeholder is to look for official communication from other sources and follow the right channel.

Works Cited

Hattingh, Johan, & Leanne Seeliger. Value issues in decision making about nuclear power generation: an ethical analysis. Stellenbosch: University of Stellenbosch. 2002. Print.

Hauser-Katenberg, Gloria, William E. Katenberg, and David Norris. Towards Emergent Ethical Action and the Culture of Engineering. J. Science and Engineering Ethics 9.3 (2003): 377-387. Web.

Shuman, Larry J., Mary Besterfield-Sacre, & Jack McGourty. The ABET Professional Skills  Can They Be Taught? Can They Be Assessed? Journal of Engineering Education 94.1 (2005): 7-11. Print.

Executive Summary

Engineering ethical principles are guidelines that define expected rules of engagement for professionals in the dynamic engineering field. Among the common ethical principles are accountability, integrity, safety, and moral authority in executing duties. It is the responsibility of engineers to exercise due diligence and expertise approach in addressing different social concerns. The professionalism approach is meant to avoid ethical dilemmas such as structural failures as a result of human error and inability to make rational decisions. Most unethical work cultures are characterized by pitiable professionalism, lack of teamwork, irresponsibility, and laxity in executing duties. These traits might transform an individual into a dishonest, disloyal, and irresponsible in his or her line of duty. From the Mississippi River Bridge collapse and Chernobyl nuclear meltdown cases, it is apparent that human error in decision making resulted in death of more than two hundred people. To avoid reoccurrence of such cases, there is need to implement continuous and comprehensive ethical training programs for engineers across the globe.

Engineering Ethics: Application in the role Execution

Introduction

Basically, ethical principles are the morals that define and drive an organization. According to Hyldgaard (2012), ethics are set of values that are generally acceptable as rules to guide behaviour and actions of an individual. In the engineering environment, the general quality of any role execution matrix is dependent of the culture of such organization since it drives the morale and action of those participating in the production function (Baura, 2006). Irrespective of the line of specialization and size, a proactive organization culture determines the performance and sustainability of all business activities.

As opined by Perlman and Varma (2002), many workers in the US have witnessed or reported actions that are considered unethical within the labour laws. In most cases, these illegal behaviours are rarely addressed, despite the fact that such actions have high costs, especially in the engineering field. Across the globe, the roles performed by engineers shape every aspect of life from roads, food, transport, construction, and manufacturing among others. This means that the general public and other stakeholders trust engineers to be ethical and offer quality services. In the instance of structural failures, unethical practices are often blamed on the engineers inability to make rational decisions (Perlman & Varma, 2002). Therefore, this analytical paper will address the significance of observing engineering ethics to avoid challenges that are blamed on ethical dilemmas as a result of poor work or organization culture. Among the ethical principles that will be discussed include integrity, accountability, moral authority, and professionalism as key elements of effective execution of engineering ethical code of conduct.

Theoretical and empirical literature review

Empirical literature review. Past case studies on engineering ethics

Several researchers have carried out case study investigation on engineering ethical guidelines that determine ethical behaviour. For instance, Perlman and Varma (2002) carried out a research on the best strategies for improving engineering ethic through a mixed method approach. The research study involved reviewing the primary principles of engineering ethics and their application in the service delivery. Apparently, the finding revealed that quality performance is a product of ethical work culture, especially in the engineering field. This means that ethical values should be shared by organizational workforce to ensure that reputation and the culture of hard work are maintained. Irrespective of the magnitude or size of an organization, ethical work culture translates into optimal and sustainable work culture.

As established by Perlman and Varma (2002), application of the general ethical guidelines for engineers might not be representational or efficient in providing strategic practice guidance, since existence of these guidelines has not translated into ethical work culture. Despite existence and standardization of these ethical principles, many engineers have been accused of doing shoddy work because of unethical approach to service delivery. For instance, across the globe, many structural failures in major government and private projects such as bridges, bunkers, and road networks have been blamed on unethical work culture among some engineers. Such failures are related to inadequacy in the engineering ethical codes of conduct.

An example of such failures is the Mississippi River Bridge collapse in the year 2007, which was blamed on structural failure as a result of unethical work culture. The investigation into the disaster revealed engineering decision flaws that resulted in the high magnitude of effect. Specifically, the engineers responsible were not strategic in maintenance of the bridge and did not advice the federal government about the impending doom. Besides, in the year of the disaster, there was no maintenance report generated by the engineers responsible, despite the common busy traffic nature of the bridge (Nunnally, 2011).

In addition, the maintenance record was very poor, despite the fact that the engineers were dealing with very sensitive bridge structure. Although the bridge had been declared structurally deficient, the decision to renovate the bridge while in use resulted in the collapse, since the structural worthiness was compromised by modification while in use. The Mississippi River Bridge disaster could not be arrested on time since the slow decision making coupled with unethical work culture had persisted beyond intervention (Nunnally, 2011). As a result, more than one hundred persons lost their lives due to the negligence on the side of the engineers.

From the above empirical literature review, it is apparent that most of structural failures in the field of engineering are blamed on unethical work culture, characterized by poor professionalism, lack of team work, irresponsibility, and laxity in executing duties. Apparently, there is need for ethical paradigm shift among engineers to restore integrity in duty and trust bestowed upon them by different stakeholders. This can be achieved through observing different engineering ethical standards such as safety, integrity, moral authority, accountability, and integrity among others.

Theoretical literature review. Major ethical theories applicable in engineering

There are several ethical theories that are applicable in the field of engineering. Among the notable theories are the virtue theory, right theory, and duty theory. These theories are discussed below.

Virtue Theory

Proposed by Aristotle, the virtue theory indicates that ethical behaviour is a product of traits that persons acquire in their work environment. This means that the ability of an engineer to do the right thing at place of work is as a result of acquiring and developing the right habits (Martin & Schinzinger, 2010). As indicated in the virtue theory, good judgment and wisdom are key instrumentation for practicing virtuous habits for engineers, who often work under very minimal supervision. Among the traits identified as elements of virtue ethics are honesty, loyalty, competence, and responsibility. Lack of these traits might transform an individual into a dishonest, disloyal, and irresponsible in his or her line of duty. In relation to the dynamic field of engineering, virtuous habits are vital towards ensuring that any engineering personnel is self disciplined in service delivery. For instance, a responsible engineer will tend to work towards being the best, even when not subjected to any form of supervision. Such an individual will find it easy to internalise work ethics such as teamwork, self direction, and proficiency (Baura, 2006).

Duty theory

This theory was proposed by Emmanuel Kant. The duty theory indicates that executing a role assigned is the fundamental instrument of ethical actions. This means that actions considered ethical can be listed as duties, which convey reverence for individuals. According to Baura (2006), when an individuals duties are recognized, ethically correct actions are obvious (p. 39) since they are influenced by duty allocation. However, this theory does not detail flexibility in executing actions that are deemed as conflicting roles within a work environment. As indicated in the theory, the duties expected of an ethical individual have a contracting bond for justifying rationality. Therefore, an ethically upright engineer should concentrate on collective responsibility as opposed to self interest, be knowledgeable about the science of proactive service delivery, and seek to incorporate quality duty delivery (Hyldgaard, 2012). In summary, there are two basic principles of duty ethics. These principles are entitlement to liberty, without compromising the roles allocated and professional approach to handling social and work related duties.

Right theory

Proposed by John Locke, the right theory alleges that human being has right to make rational decision in the process of performing a role. The fundamental right is a duty that others should respect, as long as the individual remains rational and focused in role execution (Baura, 2006). For instance, in the engineering field, an engineer has the liberty to be morality upright in capacity development when delivering services entrusted upon him or her. This means that any engineer should support the community through quality services as part of the ethical actions that promote social welfare.

Comparison between empirical and theoretical literature

The empirical and theoretical literature review suggests that engineering ethical guidelines are the primary foundation for accountability, responsibility, and professionalism in service delivery. Apart from just the ethical guidelines, there is need for a proactive paradigm shift by the engineers to embrace self discipline, collective team work, and continuous adherence to acceptable work culture to avoid occurrence of ethical dilemmas in the line of duty. Besides, it is important to reengineer ethical revolution in service delivery, among engineers across the globe, to avoid the current common shoddy jobs associated with structural failures in public and private projects. Such failures betray the trust that the public and other stakeholders have bestowed upon those in the engineering field.

Engineering ethical principles

Accountability

In the dynamic engineering environment, the aspect of accountability has become a vital ethical guideline in the competitive service delivery, as part of the global work ethics. Since all structural and other engineering assignments carry some level of risk and potential danger to the engineers and the general public, the consequences of poor work culture might translate into disaster of unprecedented proportion (Hyldgaard, 2012). This means that lack of accountability in engineering project execution might translate into structural failures, which can result in death or destruction of property by high magnitude. Therefore, the aspect of accountability, as an engineering ethical guidance principle, defines the obligations of those entrusted to carry out quality projects, such as accurate project execution and effective service delivery, as part of the engineering work ethics.

Irrespective of the magnitude of a project, it is expected that engineers assigned the duty of execution should use their position of influence and expertise to effectively deliver since any flaw would attract catastrophic consequences. In the project execution duty, the basic work guidance principle is proactive ethical engagement through accountability as a self-drive trait. For accountability to become an ethical work culture, there is need for voluntary practice and internalisation of this trait as a standardized engineering practice (Baura, 2006). All engineers have the moral obligation to exercise proficiency and perform roles in the best interest of all the stakeholders who have put their trust in their experience and expertise. Therefore, accountability calls for precise decision making and being in a position to embrace positive and negative feedbacks from project execution.

In relation to Mississippi River Bridge collapse in the year 2007, there were series of engineering flaws in handling the situation and being accountable as part of the primary duty of the bridge assessment. For instance, there was minimal exchange of information on the past evaluation records and maintenance roster (Nunnally, 2011). Besides, there was glaring human error in decision making to accomplish the renovation while the bridge was in use. The engineers mandated with the responsibility of maintaining the bridge failed to observe the work ethics of accountability to safety of bridge users during the renovation of the bridge while in use.

A section of the support beams had been compromised by the reconstruction and reinforcement work. This means that it was not prudent for the engineers to authorise continued use of the bridge before completing of the reconstruction work. The lack of accountability in role execution in the above scenario resulted in the death of more than a hundred motorists when the bridge curved in during the morning traffic rush. This action goes against the engineering ethics, which dictate that engineers should make sound decisions, since they have the duty of giving service to the public because of trust bestowed upon them by different institutions.

Moral authority

By a virtue of being in the public service industry, engineers are expected to be steadfast in doing what is right and not necessarily legal in service duty. The engineers have the moral authority to offer quality services since basic tenets engineering service have the potential of affecting everyone. In exercising the moral authority, it is imperative of the engineering institutions to be proactive in creating an excellence culture in service delivery as a decent obligation (Hyldgaard, 2012). The moral authority surpasses the engineering rules since it appeals to the aspect of being human and consistency in making decision and executing duties. Therefore, moral authority is best exercised when engineers embrace focus, teamwork, and consultation. This state can be achieved through continuous attendance of different training programs on prudence and strategic role execution (Martin & Schinzinger, 2010).

For instance, the Mississippi River Bridge collapse could have been avoided if the engineers exercised the moral authority of doing what is right, which is cordoning off the bridge until construction is completed and clean bill of structural worthiness signed. Besides, the engineers could have used their professional influence to mobilise the local and federal government agents to support a decision of closing the bridge, since the expertise trust is bestowed upon them (Nunnally, 2011). If moral obligation was exercised to the latter, the engineers could have avoided the collapse as a result of the compromised structural integrity. Besides, they had the moral authority to stop the public from using the bridge, considering the report in the previous year, which declared the Mississippi River Bridge as structurally inefficient (Martin & Schinzinger, 2010). It was unethical for the engineers to structurally modify the bridge and allowing continued use in the process, since they were aware of the potential danger of such a decision as experts.

Integrity

Integrity, as an ethical principle in the field of engineering, encompasses professionalism, holding moral qualities, and undertaking superior duty at the highest possible competence. Integrity encompasses the ability to exercise due diligence in executing duties assigned by balancing different social, technological, and professional dynamics. It means that integrity is determined by the ability of an engineer to respect and create trust with the third party in exercising duty (Martin & Schinzinger, 2010). In the addressing social concerns from an engineering perspective, it is always challenging on the best approach to adopt to counter the setback of professionalism in the face of differences in the expertise opinion. For example, role obligations within the acceptable integrity ethics might sometimes be compelling due to difference in opinion, thus, resulting in undesired results (Perlman & Varma, 2002). For an engineer to be declared as having integrity, he or she must observe the highest degree of rational decision making, consultation, and prioritisation of actions.

From an ethical lens, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in then the Soviet Union was blamed on lack of decision integrity on the part of engineers responsible. Despite having knowledge of the flawed design of the primary reactor, the standby engineers proceeded with the experiment of testing what could happen when one reactor was switched off, without following the due set regulations. The engineers responsible failed to tell the truth of their expertise opinion, despite having expressed reservations before the commencement of the test (The Chernobyl Gallery, 2015). When loyalty or fear of contradicting those in higher authority ranks influence the expertise decision making process, the group-think phenomenon might arise. As a result, an expert might end up making poor decisions that have catastrophic consequences as was the case in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster.

Safety

Another important engineering ethical principle is safety. Across the globe, all engineers are expected to put their own safety and that of the public first in role execution. In the US, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) has been mandated by the federal government to play a role in ensuring implementation of safety ethics (Nunnally, 2011). Whenever safety is compromised, it is expected of engineers to raise the red flag for the sake of public safety. For instance, when structural integrity of a bridge has been compromised, it is the moral responsibility of the inspection engineer to alert the public and other stakeholders as a safety precaution. As indicated in the Mississippi River Bridge collapse and the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown disasters, engineers in both cases had prior knowledge of the structural deficiency but chose not to raise the red alarm or cordon off the public from the impending danger (Martin & Schinzinger, 2010). The two disasters could have been avoided if the red flag was raised and rational actions take in time. Therefore, engineers have the professional duty of observing safety and communicating the same to all other stakeholders to ensure that avoidable disasters do not happen.

Major findings of the report

Impacts of ethical engineering behaviour

From the above report, it is apparent that engineering ethics are critical in service delivery since they act as guidance against flawed decision making, which often compromises the role of service delivery among engineers. There is need to observe different ethical guidance principles such as safety, accountability, integrity, and moral authority to avoid instances of structural failures as a result of human error (Martin & Schinzinger, 2010). When the above principles are observed to the latter, cases of ethical dilemma in service delivery can be avoided by engineers.

Impacts of unethical engineering behaviour

Unethical behaviour among engineers has been blamed on increased cases of human error that has claimed many lives. When an engineer or engineers conspire to hide structural inefficiencies or do low standard work, they should take the moral responsibility since they have the alternative of raising a red flag to avoid any impending disaster.

Challenges faced, overcoming them, and recommendations

The first challenge faced in the process of compiling the report was getting resources and right sources of information since case studies on structural failures, as a result of unethical work culture, are very few. The second challenge was how to pick relevant material to use in the literature review since the report was specific to engineering ethics. However, these challenges were addressed through remaining objective throughout the research and report compilation. Further research should be carried out on factors that promote unethical role execution among engineers.

As a result of the rise in number of cases of unethical work culture among engineers, it is necessary to enhance communication and ethical education to promote professional attitude in service delivery (Hyldgaard, 2012). In addition, the current engineering training programs should incorporate the above ethical principles.

Competencies and extent demonstrated

The paper has successfully and explicitly demonstrated how engineering ethical principles can promote accountability, integrity, and observance of safety in duty execution. Besides, the paper has reviewed the possible causes of unethical engineering behaviour as influenced by group-think phenomenon, fear of reprimand, and fear of taking responsibility for wrong actions. The paper highlighted the need for improvement of ethical standing among engineers through continuous training about the different ethical principles such as integrity, due diligence, accountability, and moral authority among others.

Conclusion

The report has clearly indicated that unethical work culture among engineers is influenced by the fear of taking responsibility and the inability to make rational decisions. From the cases of Mississippi River Bridge collapse and the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown, structural failures are blamed on human error in decision making. Therefore, there is need for engineers to exercise high quality decision making and taking responsibility to avoid disaster that could be prevented by simply raising a red flag or observing expertise guidelines in project execution.

References

Baura, G. (2006). Engineering ethics: An industrial perspective. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Hyldgaard, C. (2012). Engineering, development and philosophy: American, Chinese and European perspectives. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.

Martin, M. W., & Schinzinger, R. (2010). Introduction to engineering ethics. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Nunnally, P. (2011). The city, the river, the bridge: Before and after the Minneapolis Bridge collapse. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.

Perlman, B., & Varma, R. (2002). Improving ethical engineering practice. IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, 21(1), 40-48.

The Chernobyl Gallery. (2015). Chernobyl disaster causes. Web.

Making Money Online

The internet has not only turned the world to a global village, but it has also reshaped various spheres of life. It is now a treated as a key infrastructure rather than a simple communication system. The internet has revolutionized the business world to an extent that people can easily transact business globally without necessarily travelling long distances. For instance, one can advertise, order, and pay for goods and services online without much effort. Currently, Amazon.com, E Bay, and Pay Pal are some of the e-commerce firms that have successfully marketed and sold their merchandise and services on the internet. These firms have attracted a huge client base owing to their good reputation. On the flipside, some individuals have created spurious companies on the internet through which they swindle money from unsuspecting clients and business partners. Moreover, issues of online gambling and auctioning of pornographic are prevalent. Serious measures should be taken to tone down such practices because they have adverse social and economic ramifications in society. Moreover, stringent ethical considerations should be put in place to ensure that only legitimate businesses are conducted on the internet.

Controlling Cyber Crime

The global job market is shrinking at an alarming rate. It is against this background that some individuals contend that in the 21^st century crime is likely escalate and become a normal white-collar occupation. If that is the case, then the following types of crime will become white collar on the internet. For example, pornography business online, which is already a booming segment of the film industry, is likely to increase. Trafficking of drugs and illegal proliferation of arms is becoming common through the internet. Many hardworking innovators are also likely to be squeezed out of business by pirates and hackers who duplicate authentic intellectual properties and sell them below recommended market prices. The following measures can help mitigate these unethical cyber practices.

Computer users should embrace sophisticated computer security systems so that unauthorized users cannot access their documents, products and transactions. For example, parents can ensure that pornographic materials are out of reach of their children at home by simply installing a soft ware that filters and blocks pornographic contents. Security soft wares, which block viruses that tamper with data, enhance computer security. To curb piracy of personal information, a person can encrypt his or her important data files. Encryption is a security model that acts as a security policy for a given data. Another mechanism of securing vital data is through creation of elaborate login protection systems. Content-control is anther software that can also be useful in restricting the availability of certain kinds of content.

Cyber Bullying

Cyber bullying is another frequently reported vice in particular among teenage internet users who spend most of their free time on social cites, and they sometimes threaten and intimidate others online. Proper sensitization of users on netiquette codes can mitigate this vice, but it cannot easily wipe it out unless this process is reinforced with serious penalties for those who violate the ethical codes. Since the information age is very dynamic and many discoveries are made regularly, cyber ethics should be enhanced in order to control the use of the cyber space. Finally, responsible ethical conducts demands the adoption of friendly policies that do not harm users of this technology.

Introduction

Ethical obligations are intrinsic to any profession; nonetheless, people often make little account of them, giving priority to the efficiency and accomplishments of their work. In occupational spheres where moral qualities are not considered important, ones mistake usually has minor, short-term, and reversible consequences. However, in some cases, a breach of ethics can lead to significant detrimental outcomes. Negligence or an irresponsible attitude to work poses a threat to peoples safety, as it happened on the Three Mile Island, and result in long-term catastrophic repercussions, as illustrated by the Chernobyl tragedy. The two accidents serve as valuable lessons and warnings, showing the essential role of the human factor in the nuclear power industry. The well-functioning mechanisms and automated processes cannot guarantee stability and safety because an individual who makes major decisions is still prone to error. To review the mentioned events in the context of engineering ethics, it is necessary to study their history, causes, the underlying code of conduct, and professionals relative adherence to it.

The Background of the Two Nuclear Accidents

The Chernobyl disaster is known for its drastic impact not only on the Ukrainian population and environment but also on the whole world. As Plokhy (2019) explains, the engineers working on the nuclear power plant were given the task to improve the automatic shutdown mechanisms and, consequently, establish a new emergency safety system. The ministry prompted them to run a corresponding test that would imitate the conditions of power failure (Plokhy, 2019). None of the workers had expected that the procedure would disrupt protective appliances. However, on April 6, 1986, an abrupt power emission during the reactor system test had caused an intense explosion (United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 2018). The resulting fire contributed to the destruction of Unit 4 and the extensive spread of radiation (United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 2018). Thus, the intention to enhance the work of the plant in case of emergency has turned into the worst nuclear catastrophe globally.

Despite the significant efforts of the responders to the Chernobyl accident, its consequences included the creation of the exclusion zone, peoples deaths, and worsening of the populations health. The remaining reactors were eventually stopped, and the area within 30 kilometers of the plant was closed (United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 2018). Shortly after the disaster, 28 workers died, many others suffered from the radiation, and millions of people were exposed to the adverse impact in the contaminated areas (United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 2018). The drastic event has also led to the change in the mental health of the affected individuals. They are prone to depression, addictive behaviors, and anxiety; some people experience unrecognized physical symptoms, overestimate their conditions, and make negative predictions regarding their life span (United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 2018). The disasters widely spread outcomes should motivate society to pay more attention to safety within the industry.

The Three Mile Island occurrence is considered the most serious nuclear accident which happened in the United States. The personnel working on the plant on March 28, 1979, were unaware of the emergency feedwater valves closure after a maintenance procedure, which had an ultimate influence on their further actions (Filburn & Bullard, 2016). The absence of the main feedwater had stopped the turbine and caused a chain of complicated events and alarms which misled the operators into making wrong decisions (Filburn & Bullard, 2016). They had also missed the fact of inadequate core cooling and the failure of Power Operated Relief Valves, which resulted in radiation releases and gathering of hydrogen in the reactors vessel (Filburn & Bullard, 2016). The accident did not bring dangerous consequences because the large explosion was avoided. Nonetheless, being on the verge of the catastrophe makes that day on Three Mile Island admonitory.

The implications of the nuclear plant accident in the United States were realized later. According to Filburn and Bullard (2016), although peoples exposure to the radiation was insignificant and they did not suffer from long-term health issues, the event entailed economic losses. The rectification of the consequences demanded time and money  ten years and approximately one billion dollars respectively (Filburn & Bullard, 2016). Removing the fuel remains and the subsequent careful examination of the ill-conditioned components helped investigate the matter, and the proper recycling of radioactive waste ensured safety on the plants territory (Filburn & Bullard, 2016). Moreover, Three Mile Island aims at full decontamination of Unit 2 by 2034 (Filburn & Bullard, 2016). The accident did not impact the environmental situation in the region and did not worsen the residents health, but it caused financial troubles for the involved parties.

The Causes of Disasters

The Chernobyl catastrophe is viewed as unprecedented because of its unique circumstances and contributing factors. First of all, the utilized RBMK reactor included a mixture of a graphite moderator and water coolant and was considered unacceptable outside the Soviet Union because of its instability (The Nuclear Energy Institute, 2019). It means that the respective authorities ignored the risks associated with the items characteristics. The reactors conditions were difficult to predict at low power due to its peculiarities: the absence of cooling water increased the speed of the nuclear chain reaction and power output (The Nuclear Energy Institute, 2019). Secondly, the plant was less protected in comparison with similar buildings in the world. It was deprived of the reinforced containment structure, which allowed radioactive materials to enter the environment (The Nuclear Energy Institute, 2019). Consequently, the Chernobyl power station was not prepared for emergency situations, which made it much more dangerous than other nuclear plants.

There is no doubt that the causes of the Chernobyl tragedy are also related to the human factor. As stated in Low Safety Culture (2019), at that time, economic and sociopolitical aspects in the atomic energy sphere were not legally regulated. There was no person fully responsible for the safety of nuclear power utilization (Low Safety Culture, 2019). The plants Unit 4 was subject to prearranged maintenance; and operators had to perform the procedures determining whether the equipment can maintain enough power for the cooling system during the transition phase (Plokhy, 2019). However, the workers did not take proper precautions when performing the system testing because they were not aware of the existing risks. Most importantly, they were under the pressure of the deputy chief engineer, focused on the task accomplishment, and could not prioritize safety (Low Safety Culture, 2019). Thus, the system of seniority prevailed overprotective measures, leading to the disaster.

Regarding Three Mile Island, the reasons for the accident included minor failures of equipment and inadequate control instrumentation. The chain of events began when the malfunction of the secondary cooling circuit increased the temperature, the subsequent step of the reactor occurred, and the relief valve could not close (World Nuclear Association, 2020). However, the control room instrumentation did not detect the problem. The unnoticed stuck of the pilot-operated relief valve (PORV) has led to a series of misconceptions, which prevented the staff from the timely and effective actions and shifted their focus in the wrong direction. They underestimated the significance of the PORV and the block valve because the manufacturer was unaware of its safety function during accident loads (Rosztoczy, 2019). The flaws in the design of the plant systems had led to confusion during their handling.

The Three Mile Island accident was not deprived of human errors as well. Because of the deficient instrumentation with indicators and the lack of training in a similar situation, the operators could not decide on the appropriate course of actions. Rosztoczy (2019) explains that unable to find the problem, they were improvising and counted on the pressurizer water level data. The employees made several mistakes, such as shutting the emergency core cooling system, opening the letdown line, missing overheating of the core, and injecting radioactive water into the auxiliary building (Rosztoczy, 2019). These errors were fixed late as the partial meltdown had already occurred. Besides, the operators training constituted their preparation for the worst scenario. Their treatment of the situation as a minor did not allow seeing it as potentially dangerous and prevented the workers from reacting to it more seriously (Filburn & Bullard, 2016). Therefore, the incorrect approach to the staff coaching subjected the power station to a disturbing experience.

The Principles of Engineering Ethics

Those individuals who are involved in the nuclear industry should recognize the basic moral values connected with radiological protection. The first one involves beneficence, which is the facilitation of good, and nonmaleficence  the avoidance of doing harm. The principles are realized in the protection of society from the adverse influence of radiation and minimizing the likelihood of threats (Cho et al., 2018). The second  prudence  means ones competence to make informed and thought-out choices depending on what they can do in the given circumstances (Cho et al., 2018). The virtue is related to the obligation to monitor radiological conditions and make sound decisions even when facing uncertainties (Cho et al., 2018). The third value is dignity; it implies that every individual deserves unconditional respect and has the right to take or reject the risk (Cho et al., 2018). The final principle  justice  constitutes the equal distribution of benefits and losses, which means that peoples exposure to radiation should be limited, but not at the expense of others (Cho et al., 2018). The underlying ethical values should become a norm for the workers of nuclear power plants.

The practical application of moral principles can be reflected in such aspects as accountability, transparency, and inclusiveness. The first concept obliges a person or an organization to take responsibility for their actions and related consequences, as well as the provided advice, given order, and developed requirements (Cho et al., 2018). The second one means the establishment of explicit procedures and demands, ensuring unimpeded access to the information which impacts society and the environment (Cho et al., 2018). The last aspect reflects the freedom of stakeholder participation, allowing for the possibility to involve other people besides specialists in the radiological protection because it serves their interests (Cho et al., 2018). The collaboration between the experienced professionals and stakeholders helps them approach an issue in a comprehensive manner and contributes to mutual understanding. The adherence to the accountability, transparency, and inclusiveness elements is the key to upholding safety within the nuclear industry.

Engineers are respectable professionals; given the nature of their work, they are expected to follow the most demanding guidelines of ethical conduct and conform to the corresponding code. The National Society of Professional Engineers offers a comprehensive, detailed, and well-organized set of requirements for the individuals choosing this occupation. It outlines the rules of practice, dividing them into five categories (National Society of Professional Engineers, 2019). According to the code, engineers should prioritize the publics safety, health and welfare, work only in the spheres of their competence, and deliver unbiased information to the population (National Society of Professional Engineers, 2019). Furthermore, the representatives of this profession should be faithful to their employers and clients and refrain from fraudulent acts (National Society of Professional Engineers, 2019). The engineering practice means complying with the highest ethical standards.

People working in the nuclear industry are prepared to undertake a number of obligations connected to their job. For example, engineers make honesty and integrity their moral priority, serve the public interest, avoid potentially misleading actions, and preserve the confidentiality of the clients or employees (National Society of Professional Engineers, 2019). They do not allow conflicting interests to hinder their judgment and do not purposefully worsen the reputation of colleagues to obtain a promotion (National Society of Professional Engineers, 2019). On the contrary, the professionals recognize the proprietary rights of others and accept personal responsibility for their work (National Society of Professional Engineers, 2019). The National Society of Professional Engineers recognizes that their activities directly influence peoples quality of life, setting enhanced demands regarding ones virtues. Such an attitude is commendable and promising in terms of the safety of nuclear power stations.

Breach of Ethics in Chernobyl and Three Mile Island

The tragedy of Chernobyl and its causes can be explained by the absence of certain ethical standards, beginning from the government officials and ending with ordinary performers. The desire to keep pace with other countries has prompted the Soviet Union led to building own nuclear power plant. Nikita Khrushchev ignored the engineers warnings that it would be dangerous to use uranium-graphite channel-type reactors to produce electricity (Low Safety Culture, 2019). The alternative options were inapproachable because of the technological complexity of the reactor vessel production (Low Safety Culture, 2019). Thus, one can perceive the leaders decision as contradicting the principles of nonmaleficence, accountability, and inclusiveness: he did not prevent harm, possess a sense of responsibility, and consider the public interests. Moreover, Khrushchev was acting beyond his area of competence, refusing to accept the advice of specialists in the field. Such breach of ethics has served as a prerequisite for future disaster, given the flawed design of the reactor.

A further breach of ethics can be seen right before the accident on the Chernobyl station and even afterward. As evident from the background description, the plant operators were forced to perform a risky procedure, prioritizing the deputy chief engineers orders over safety (Low Safety Culture, 2019). The head manager did not adhere to the principles of prudence and dignity, threatening everyones well-being and showing no respect for his employees. He also did not demonstrate the willingness to ensure public welfare. When the catastrophe occurred, despite the reactors flawed design, the officials could have limited radioactive exposure (The Nuclear Energy Institute, 2019). Nonetheless, the plant operators hid the news from authorities and the affected population, which led to the late evacuation alert and peoples consumption of contaminated food (The Nuclear Energy Institute, 2019). Such actions signify the breach of nonmaleficence, justice, transparency, as well as providing false information, ignoring public interests, and avoiding accountability. The continued disregard of ethics has resulted in long-term and extensive outcomes.

The Three Mile Island accident presents slightly different aspects, given that its consequences were manageable and reversible. Firstly, the safety function of PORV was disrupted because such a requirement was not indicated in its purchase order (Rosztoczy, 2019). The supplier did not comprehend the clients demand, which illustrates the violation of beneficence, prudence, and inclusiveness due to poor communication and the reluctance to reach mutual understanding. Secondly, the design of the control room was not well-thought-out because the operators found it difficult to notice and interpret the indicators (World Nuclear Association, 2020). It means that the individuals responsible for this work did not organize the procedures explicitly and did not strive to contribute to the employees welfare and favorable job conditions. These various shortcomings had affected the involved personnel, causing their quite rambling actions and making their diagnostic process increasingly complicated.

The plants staff had played the greatest role in the Three Mile Island disaster because of their non-adherence to the expected ethical conduct. Some of the operators were not experienced enough to handle emergency cases, and the previous training did not seem to prepare them for such situations. It included the mitigation of the presupposed accidents, but very small of them, such as PORV failure, were not analyzed by the designer and consequently were excluded from the program (Rosztoczy, 2019). Without considering the stations reaction to such a breakdown, instructors had taught the operators to rely on the pressurizer water level indication for water level measurements

in the reactor coolant system (Rosztoczy, 2019). The individuals who had developed the training of operators demonstrated the breach of accountability and beneficence because they did not offer a comprehensive preparation that would prove their professionalism and become useful to the students. In turn, the operators did not act within their area of competence as their knowledge was insufficient during the accident. The companys staff should have been educated on the engineering code of conduct to comply with the necessary requirements.

The Comparison of Ethical Implications in the Two Cases

The difference in the consequences of the two discussed disasters is significant because of the variations in the ethical culture of the United States and the Soviet Union. While the related issues were regulated in the U.S. during the corresponding accident, the USSR did not have clearly developed rules of professional conduct in the nuclear industry (The Nuclear Energy Institute, 2019). In addition, the economic progress of the foreign countries has placed the latter state in an unfavorable position. To withstand the competition, the Soviet Union had to make fast decisions and focus on efficiency and production volume, ignoring ethical obligations, including safety (Low Safety Culture, 2019). The authoritarian regimen disapproved initiative and demanded upholding the system of seniority. Conversely, the U.S. continued to promote democratic values and recognized the importance of collaboration. Therefore, the existence of ethical standards and better technical conditions did not result in the tragedy in Three Mile Island, but placing competition and authority before safety caused the Chernobyl tragedy.

The dissimilar outcomes of the accidents can be commented on based on the different attitudes to the precautions, which can be partially attributed to the peoples mentality. The Chernobyl disaster was provoked because of the breach of transparency and accountability. The workers performed a dangerous test without being aware of the potential consequences as the leaders ignored or hid these details (The Nuclear Energy Institute, 2019). The procedure was not accompanied by the proper safety procedures because nobody was responsible solely for this aspect (Low Safety Culture, 2019). On the Three Mile Island plant, the employees did not conduct questionable procedures under pressure and were just subject to an unexpected situation. They took corrective actions as soon as possible, and the serious influence of the accident was avoided (Rosztoczy, 2019). Thus, taking safety measures means following ethical standards and preventing detrimental events.

Nevertheless, both disasters involved a breach of engineering ethics and needed improvement in this realm. The accidents have revealed gaps in the leaders and subordinates accountability, prudence, and transparency, which formed the prerequisites for the occurred issues (Low Safety Culture, 2019). Some individuals acted beyond their competency area and provided misleading information, for instance, the chief engineer on the Chernobyl nuclear station and the managers organizing the training of employees on Three Mile Island. Furthermore, both accidents have illustrated the incidences of violating the principles of beneficence, nonmaleficence, and inclusiveness, revealing the professionals inability to sympathize and communicate in an efficient manner. The underlying standards of honesty and integrity were not followed as well. One can notice that every breach of ethical obligations can hinder the safety of the enterprise, which is why it is crucial to uphold the existing codes of conduct within the nuclear industry.

Conclusion

The analysis of engineering ethics related to the disasters in Chernobyl and on Three Mile Island requires examining their backgrounds and factors, viewing the accepted principles and standards, and assessing compliance of the involved parties. The former tragedy has happened after the system test resulted in the massive explosion, peoples deaths, diseases, and considerable harm to the local environment. The latter accident involved partial melting of the reactors core due to the unnoticed problem and incorrect series of actions; it entailed mostly economic losses. The causes of the Chernobyl event included poor design of the reactor and the human factor, while the Three Mile Island incident occurred due to minor equipment deficiencies and the insufficient preparation of the operators. In this light, the obligatory aspects of industry ethics encompass nonmaleficence, prudence, justice, dignity, accountability, transparency, and inclusivity. In the Chernobyl case, mostly all involved individuals violated at least one ethical principle, while in the other event the breach was limited to the designers fault and inadequate training of the employees. The comparison of the disasters allows concluding that improving the ethical culture will help enhance nuclear power safety.

References

Cho, K. W. et al. (2018). ICRP Publication 138: Ethical foundations of the system of radiological protection. Annals of the ICRP, 47(1), 1-65.

Filburn, T., & Bullard, S. (2016). Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima: Curse of the nuclear genie. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

Low safety culture of the entire system  The cause of the Chernobyl accident. (2019).

National Society of Professional Engineers. (2019). Code of ethics for engineers [PDF document].

Plokhy, S. (2019). Chernobyl: History of a tragedy. London, UK: Penguin Books.

Rosztoczy, Z. R. (2019). Root causes of the Three Mile Island accident. Nuclear News.

The Nuclear Energy Institute. (2019). Chernobyl accident and its consequences.

United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. (2018). Backgrounder on Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident.

World Nuclear Association. (2020). Three Mile Island accident.

Introduction

Fossil fuels are one of the primary sources of energy in human society. It continues to expand and evolve in order to meet the demands of the modern economy. The field of petroleum engineering encompasses working in the industry with any activities related to the extraction and production of hydrocarbons. These are compounds that are directly involved in the creation of oil and natural gas. The industry and processes are complex, involving significant technical challenges and other considerations. While production volumes and fracking technology are central to petroleum engineering, it is most important that the industry follows a sustainable trend. Because reducing environmental impact and promoting energy efficiency, and utilizing innovative technology are critical.

Environmental Impact

The expansion of the industry requires searching for hydrocarbon deposits in hard-to-access locations. Currently, the deep sea is being actively industrialized with increased oil and natural gas exploration. The difficult conditions and the lack of information about deep-sea ecosystems are creating challenges to drilling and further environmental management. The impact of infrastructure creation such a sediment resuspension and seafloor digging for pipelines are restricted with a 100-meter radius but can cause low-toxicity oil discharge for over 2km. While the marine ecosystem will be affected in the area of exploration activities, it is of great concern that fragile ecosystems further away may be damaged as well without proper access to data and environmental management (Cordes et al. 1).

Recent social trends, international environmental guidelines, and regulations from oversight agencies have led to the implementation of improved management strategies to mitigate impacts during deep-sea drilling. One such mechanism is the blow-out preventer (BOP) which limits the spread of discharge in the deep-sea currents. Drilling requires the use of fluids and chemicals for aspects such as hydrostatic pressure, lubrication, and cooling. As the steel pipe casing is inserted into the well, the sediment and resulting drill cuttings are spread around the site at the seafloor. With the use of BOP, valves controlling the well are in place, which allows drill fragments and fluids to be circulated to the surface and recycled (Cordes et al. 1). Environmental protection and sustainability is a relevant topic in petroleum engineering as the industry attempts to compete with clean energy and mitigate public scrutiny.

Drilling Efficiency

One of the key factors for the production volume of hydrocarbons is drilling efficiency. Therefore, it remains a crucial trend for companies to increase this indicator. This has been a reform of perspective in the industry, which has traditionally measured petroleum products based on well and rig counts. Drilling efficiency is a more accurate measure of productivity, which includes petroleum production rates and volumes (Lieskovsky & Gorgen par. 2). This ties into energy efficiency, as environmental and energy security, have pressured policies and regulations upon the petroleum industry. Similar to drilling efficiency, all refineries and wells differ significantly based on processes and location. Crude density and heavy product yields impact energy intensity use that correlates with greenhouse gas emissions. The primary trend in the industry is to optimize efficiency and lower emissions so that production is economically viable and corresponds with regulation (Han et al. 292).

Digital Computing

Computers are being more commonly utilized for the purposes of design, control, and operation in petroleum refining. Additional aspects include maintenance, data storage, supply chain management, and distributing. The sophisticated engineering processes of petroleum engineering and the extent of the global network requires sophisticated computing mechanisms to address the demands of the industry. Digital technology has the potential to reform the industry, which has experienced a decline in profits in the last years. Computers can help manage operations, improve capacity, and reduce capital expenditure. Furthermore, processing power allows the computation of complex procedures such as 3D seismic projections, refinery modeling, and advanced process controls (Choudhry et al. par. 4).

A significant trend and benefit of digital computing for the petroleum industry is the use of data. Advances in big data processes and artificial intelligence allow improving all sectors of the industry significantly. Advanced analytics and the Internet of Things can aid professionals in making the most optimal decision, ranging from engineering and project design to marketing and supply economics. Furthermore, computing is enabling progress in fields such as robotics and automation, which are invaluable to the petroleum industry when working in adverse environments. The three primary trends for digital computing in petroleum engineering include future operations through predictive maintenance and transformative functions. Reservoir limits are a significant digital application that requires seismic imaging technology. Finally, digitally-enabled marketing is vital by helping track and manage consumer habits (Choudhry et al. par. 7-9).

Conclusion

Overall, these trends in petroleum engineering indicate that the manufacturing process is being optimized and held to efficiency standards in all its aspects through the use of modern technology. This is beneficial from both an economic and technical perspective as the demands and interests of the industry are addressed. Furthermore, it is necessary for environmental sustainability and corporate responsibility as oil companies seek to maintain their value to society. These trends should be considered as it is possible that petroleum production becomes a mostly automated process going forward, using a combination of traditional and environmentally sustainable technologies.

Works Cited

Choudhry, Harsh, et al. The Next Frontier for Digital Technologies in Oil and Gas.McKinsey & Company. 2016, Web.

Cordes, Erik E., et al. Environmental Impacts of the Deep-Water Oil and Gas Industry: A Review to Guide Management Strategies. Frontiers in Environmental Science, vol. 4, 2016, pp. 1-26. Web.

Han, Jeong-woo, et al. A Comparative Assessment of Resource Efficiency in Petroleum Refining. Fuel, vol. 157, no. 1, 2016, pp. 292-298. Web.

Lieskovsky, Jozef, and Sam Gorgen. Drilling Efficiency Is a Key Driver of Oil and Natural Gas Production.U.S. Energy Information Administration. 2013, Web.