Unit 4

Safety, Responsibilities
and Rights
 Unit Split up

Safety – 30%
Responsibilities – 40%
Rights – 30%
Safety
 Concept of Safety by Lowrence
• Definition
• Drawbacks
• Underestimating risk
• Overestimating risk
• No estimation of Risk
• Modified version of Lowrence
• A Thing(products, service, process) is safe (at certain degree) w.r.t given person or
group at a given time, if its risks would be judged acceptable (at certain degree), in
light of settled value principles.
• Concept of relative safety
• Safety expressed in terms of degree and comparisons.
• “Relatively safe” – safety of thing in comparison with safety of similar things.
• Ex: Travel in Airplane>Car>Bike
Design for Safety
Risk
Potassium Dichromate
 Types of Risk (Factors)
• Voluntary and Involuntary Risk
• Short-term and Long-term risk
• Delayed and Immediate risk
• Inherent and residual risk
• Reversible effect risk
• Threshold levels of risk
 Determination of Risk
• Knowledge of Risk
• Uncertainties in Design
• Testing for Safety
 Risk Analysis
• Analytical Method
• Scenario analysis
• FMEA
• FTA
• ETA
• Cost Analysis
• Risk Benefit analysis
• Reducing Risk (or) Improving Safety
• Risk benefit Analysis
FMEA
FMEA
FaultTreeAnalysis
Event Tree Analysis
 Cost Analysis
• Primary Cost
• Secondary Cost
 RISK-BENEFIT ANALYSIS
Risk- benefit analysis is a method that helps the engineers to analyze the risk in
a project and to determine whether a project should be implemented or not. It
is very much closer to cost-benefit analysis.
Risk – benefit analysis is being conducted for finding out answers for the
following questions:
I. Is the product worth applying the risk-benefit analysis?
II. What are the benefits?
III. Do they over weigh the risks?
The major reasons for the analysis of the risk benefit are:
1. To know risks and benefits and weigh them each
2. To decide on designs, advisability of product/project
3. To suggest and modify the design so that the risks are eliminated or reduced
 Risk benefit Value Function

Value (efforts to obtain GAIN)

Benefit

Largesse or inertia
Threshold

Value (efforts to avoid LOSS)

Threshold
LOSSES Perceived (-) UTILITY Perceived (+)

Aversion or Anxiety
Risk
Relationship between Risk, Safety, Cost & Price

Safety
High Low
Risk
High Safety and High Risk Low Safety and High Risk
High High Cost – High price Low Cost – High price
Examples: Nuclear power plant, Aircraft, Example: Automobile
Missiles
High Safety and Low Risk Low Safety and Low Risk
Low

High Cost – Medium price Low Cost – Low price

Example: Electrical products, Safety valves Example: Computer
Relationship between Risk, Safety, Cost & Price
Total Cost

Cost of Manufacture

Secondary Cost

Primary Cost

Low Risk, high Safety Optimal Cost Risk

High Risk, Low Safety
Safe Exit
 Responsibilities

Internal External
responsibility Responsibility

Respect for Collective Conflicts of Occupational

Collegiality Loyalty Authority Bargaining
Confidentiality Interest Crime
 Responsibilities
• External Responsibility
• Internal responsibility • Confidentiality
• Collegiality  Privileged information
• Loyalty  Proprietary information
Agency Loyalty  Trade Secrets
Identification Loyalty  Patents
• Respect for Authority • Conflicts of Interest
Institutional Authority  Actual Conflicts of Interest
Expert Authority  Apparent Conflicts of
• Collective Bargaining Interest
 Potential Conflicts of Interest
• Occupational Crime
 1. Collegiality
According to Craig Ihara – “A kind of connectedness
grounded in respect for professional expertise and in
commitment to the goals and values of the profession
Elements of Collegiality
 Respect
 Commitment
 Connectedness
Negative aspects
 Misused
 Degenerate to more groups of self-interest rather than
Public good
 Due to tough competition in engineers- collegiality
leads to focus on maximizing profit than service.
 2. Loyalty

•The quality of being true and faithful in

one’s support
•It is more a function of attitudes, emotions
and a sense of identity
•Senses of loyalty
• Agency Loyalty
• Identification Loyalty
Professionalism and Loyalty

• Acting on professional commitments to the public is more

effective to serve a company than just following company
orders.
• Loyalty to employers may not mean obeying one’s immediate
supervisor.
• Professional obligations to both an employer and to the
public might strengthen rather than contradict each other.
 3. Respect for Authority
• Authority can be defined as the legal right to command action by
others to enforce compliance.
• Sources of authority
• They are the persons
• High position or rank,
• Personal attitudes such as charisma, knowledge and expertise.
• Types of Authority
Institutional Authority
Expert Authority
 Authority Vs Power
S# Authority Power

1 It is the legal rights to superior, which It is the ability of the person to

compel his subordinates to perform influence others to perform an act. It
certain acts may not have legal sanction
2 It is delegated to an individual by his It is earned by an individual through
supervisor his own efforts
3 It is mostly well defined, formal and It is undefined, Informal and infinite
finite
4 Always flows downward Flows in any direction
5 It lies in the position held and the It resets in the individual. Even when
authority change in position the position has changed, his power
remains with him
 4. Collective Bargaining
• International Labor Organization (ILO) define it as : Negotiation about
working conditions and terms of employment between employer and
one or more representative employee’s with a view to reaching the
agreement
• The term bargaining refers to evolving agreement using methods like
negotiation, discussion, exchange of facts and ideas rather than
confrontation (battle).
• It leads to formation of Unions.
• Requirements are:
Process of collective bargaining
• Presenting character of demands by the union on behalf of
constituent elements
• Compromise at bargaining table
• Reaching the agreement
Collective Bargaining Process
• Prepare

• Discuss

• Propose

• Bargain

• Settlement/Final agreement
 Unionism & Professionalism
• Legally, any organization employing more than 20 employees could have a union in a
organization more than one union s permitted.
• They employers from unions to safeguard the interests of employees and to prevent
exploitation of employees.
• According to John kemper, the unionism and professionalism are conflicting with
each other.
• Professionalism  importance to the interest of society and their employers.
• But unions  collective bargaining agents.
• Many professional societies indirectly instruct the engineers should not become members
of the unions.
• That doesn’t mean Collective bargaining is wrong.
• Collective bargaining is ethical or unethical only on the basis of the given situation.
So, Is Unionism Good or Bad?
 Arguments over Unions
Arguments in favor of unions Arguments against unions
• It play vital role in achieving • Unions destroys the economy
high salaries and improved of a country through constant
standard of living organization Strikes.
• Employees get greater sense of • Unions remove person to
participation in organization person negotiation between
decision. employers and employees
• Unions encourage conflict
• Ensure job security and stressed relations between
• Unions maintain stability by employees and employee
providing an effective grievance • Unions prevents employer
procedure for employee from rewarding individuals
complaints. for their personal achievement.
Conditions For Successful Collective Bargaining
• Trade Union Recognition

• Observance of Agreements

• Support of Labour Administration Authorities

• Good Faith

• Proper Internal Communication

 External Responsibilities
• Responsibilities of an engineer towards outside world, that the
Responsibilities outside organization
• It include
• Confidentiality
• Conflict of interest
• Occupational crimes
 [Link] or confidential information

• Information considered desirable to be kept secret.

• Any information that the employer or client would like to have kept secret in order
to compete effectively against business rivals.
• This information includes how business is run, its products, and suppliers, which
directly affects the ability of the company to compete in the market place
Examples of Confidentiality
What are the information kept
confidential?
 Types of Confidential information
1. Privileged information:
• Information available only on the basis of special
privilege such as granted to an employee working on a
special assignment.
2. Proprietary information:
• Information that a company owns or is the proprietor of.
• This is primarily used in legal sense.
• Also called Trade Secret. A trade secret can be virtually
any type of information that has not become public and
which an employer has taken steps to keep secret.
 Types of Confidential information
3. Trade Secret
• A trade secret can be virtually any type of information
that has not become public and which an employer has
taken steps to keep secret.
• Design, technology plant facilities, Quality control
4. Patents
• Differ from trade secrets.
• Legally protect specific products from being
manufactured and sold by competitors without the
express permission of the patent holder.
• They have the drawback of being public and
competitors may easily work around them by creating
alternate designs.
 Justification and Limits of Confidentiality
First level: Based on ordinary moral considerations:
I. Respect for autonomy:
• Recognizing the legitimate (sincere) control over private information (individuals
or corporations).
• This control is required to maintain their privacy and protect their self-interest.
II. Respect for Promise
Respecting promises in terms of employment contracts not to divulge
certain information considered sensitive by the employer
III. Regard for public well being
• Only when there is a confidence that the physician will not reveal information, the
patient will have the trust to confide in him.
• Similarly only when companies maintain some degree of confidentiality
concerning their products, the benefits of competitiveness within a free market are
promoted.
 Justification and Limits of Confidentiality
Second level: Based on moral theories.
I. Justification by Right Ethicists :
• Basic Human rights
II. Justification by Duty Ethicists :
• Both employer and employee should maintain trust.
III. Justification by Utilitarians:
• Most good for most people
IV. Effect of Change of Job on Confidentiality
• Employees are obliged to protect confidential information regarding former
employment, after a change of job.
• The confidentiality trust between employer and employee continues beyond the
period of employment.
 2. Conflict of Interest
•When an employee pursues an interest
or more, other than his/her regular
employment.
•Example:
•Employee working in a company serving
as a consultant for a competitor’s
company.
Sometimes, You need to answer two clients of
your company whose desires is of extreme ends
Kickbacks – Prearranged
payments made by
contractors to companies in
exchange for contracts
actually granted.
Sources
 Creation of CoI
1. Conflict of Interest created by Interest in other companies
• When one works actually for the competitor or subcontractor as an employee or
consultant.
• Having partial ownership or substantial stock holdings in the competitor’s
business.
• It may not arise by merely having a spouse working for sub-contractor to one’s
company, but it will arise if one’s job also includes granting contracts to that
subcontractor
2. Conflicts of Interest created by Insider information
• Using inside information to set-up a business opportunity for oneself or family or
friends.
• Buying stock in the company for which one works is not objectionable but it
should be based on the same information available to the public.
Types of conflicts of interest
• Actual conflicts of interests
• Apparent/Perceived conflicts of interests
• Potential conflicts of interests
Differences
Avoiding Conflicts Of Interests

• Taking guidance from Company Policy

• In the absence of such a policy taking a second opinion from a
coworker or manager. This gives an impression that there no intension
on the part of the engineer to hide anything
 Bribe vs Gift
[Link] Bribe Gift
1 Made in secret Made in open
2 Given before Given after
3 Large amount Small amount, articles, etc
4 Illegal and Immoral Since it is small, not morally wrong
5 Expect a undue (unjustified) favor Expect a favour or thanking for a favor
6 Damage the good and reputation No damage involved.
Moonlighting
 Types of Crime
1. Domestic crime
Non-accidental crime committed by members of the family
2. Victimless crime
Person who commits the crime is the victim of the crime. E.g. Drug addiction.
3. Hate crime
Crime done on the banner of religion, community, linguistics
4. Professional Crime
• When crime is pursued as a profession or day to day occupation
• Blue collar crime (or) Street crime
• Crime against person, property (theft, assault on a person, rape)
3. Occupational crime/White-collar crime
• Professionals
 People Committing Occupational Crimes

• Usually have high standard of education

• From a non-criminal family background
• Middle class male around 27 years of age (70%
of the time) with no previous history
• No involvement in drug or alcohol abuse
• Those who had troublesome life experience in
the childhood.
 Occupational crime/White-collar crime
Examples
1. Industrial Espionage /
Spying
2. Price-fixing
 Occupational crime/White-collar crime
Examples
3. Bootlegging

Global New Car

Assessment
Program banned
Occupational crime/White-collar crime
Examples
• 4. Endangering lives
Occupational crime/White-collar crime
Examples
5. Grease payments
Occupational crime/White-collar crime
Examples
6. Reverse Engineering
Occupational crime/White-collar crime
Examples
7. Cyber crimes
 Rights

Human Rights Employee Professional

Rights Rights
 Human Rights
• Right to Life • Right to Freedom of thought
• Right to Liberty • Right to Education
• Right to Security of person • Right to participate in and form
• Right to Social security and Work Trade union
• Right to minimal standard of living • Right to nondiscrimination
• Right not to be held slavery. • Right to Marriage
• Right to recognition before Law • Right not to marry without free
consent
• Right to freedom of movement
• Right to property ownership
 Employee Rights

•Status or position of the employee.

•Types:
1. Contractual employee rights
• Specific agreement in employment contact
• Ex: Right to receive a salary of a certain
amount
• Ex: Right to receive bonuses, increments, etc.,
 Employee Rights
• Types:
2. Non-contractual employee rights
• Rights existing even if not formally recognized
• Ex: Right to nondiscrimination and absence of sexual
harassment at workplace
• Ex: Right to choose outside activities
• Ex: Right to Privacy
• Ex: Right to no due process (Safeguarding exercise of other
rights & disciplinary actions)
 Professional Rights
• Professional rights are the rights possessed by Virtue
of being professionals having special moral
responsibilities.
• Examples:
• Right to make professional judgment on the basis of his/her
conscience.
• Right to refuse to involve in unethical activities (Right to
Conscientious refusal)
• Right to warn the public about harms and dangers
• Right to fair recognition and remuneration for professional
services.
Whistle Blowing
Whistle Blowing
 Types of Whistle Blowing
• Internal Whistle Blowing
• Personal Whistle Blowing
• External Whistle Blowing
• Open Whistle Blowing
• Anonymous Whistle Blowing
Types of Whistle Blowing
 Types of Whistle Blowing

•Open Whistle Blowing

•Openly reveal their identity as they the
information.
•Anonymous Whistle Blowing
•Disclose the identity of the whistle blower
Whistle Blowing
 Whistle Blowing Process
(Guidelines for Ethical Whistle-blowing)
Whistle Blowing process
Whistle Blowing process
 How corporations can prevent unwanted
whistle blowing
• A Strong corporate Ethic structure
• Clear lines of communication
• Openness and transparency of rules, understood by all
employees
• Empowerment of employees
• Rewarding of really eye opening whistle-blowing
• A sense of job security
• Willingness of management to admit the mistakes
 Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
• What is Intellect?
• Ability to use the mind creatively
• Intellectual Property Rights are legal rights,
which result from intellectual activity in
industrial, scientific, literary & artistic fields.
• These rights safeguard creators and other
producers of intellectual goods & services by
granting them certain time-limited rights to
control their use.
• It is an asset that can be sold or exchanged.
 IPR
• Patents & Industrial Design
• Layout of design of IC
• Trademarks
 IPR
• Copyrights
• Poems, Arts, Scripts of movies
• Trade secrets
• Technique how the product was manufactured
• Formula of Pepsi soft drinks, Formulas for making drugs
IPR
• Geographical Indications
IPR
Discrimination
 Discrimination
• Unequal treatment of an individual intentionally or unintentionally.
• Treating people unfairly and morally unjustified because of :
 Instances of Discrimination
(Examples of discriminative behavoir)
• Doing job interviews • Wrongful Termination
immorally • When company is force to
• Fixing different salary reduce number of staffs due to
structure economic crisis, selecting only a
specific community or gender
• Ill treatment during work
or aged employee for dismissal.
• Provision of differential work
• Not passing the leave
atmosphere applications or medical bills of
• Being harsh to one person but particular subordinate
kind to others • Dismissing employees who are
• Belittling subordinate at the verge of their retirement.
Conciliation - சமரசம்
 Sexual Harassment
• Undesirable, Objectionable form of sex discrimination.
• Any sexual oriented practice that endangers women’s job that
undermines her job performance and threatens her economic
livelihood.
Stand up and tell them to Stop
Go through the Company’s Sexual harassment
Policy
Maintain a Record for Reporting