Safety of the Public

1
Safety of the Public

• By
• Sarah Finkle, George Berry, Jon Castoro, Matt
  Parkhurst

2
Disaster in Kansas City

• 1991- Walkway of Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel
  collapsed killing 114 people and injuring 186
• Two serious design flaws
• The use of two steel channels holding the nut
  without having a bearing plate was against Kansas
  City Building codes.
• The nuts were now carrying the weight of the
  fourth-floor and the second-story walkway

3
Who is to blame?

• The architect? Or the engineer?
• Engineers must outline reasonable care and
  competence
• Donald Douncan career was ruined by taking the
  responsibility of the tragedy.
• This is what engineers are paid to do.

4
Options

• To keep the problem in the dark or sacrifice his
  career.
• Do nothing and hope for the best.
• Alternative is to blow the whistle on the
  project.
• Inform the boss or an outside source.

5
Ethically Right for Me?

• What are the costs to be ethical?
• Ethics argue the limit in how much we should
  sacrifice.
• He has a lot to sacrifice
• Most likely he will get fired and have a
  difficult time finding a new job.
• This is his life work and have a heavy price to
  pay.

6
Trusting the Experts

• Joe Not an engineer but believes everything
  that they tell him
• Receives conflicting advice
• Sarah disagrees with Chris and doesnt believe
  that the overhang is unsafe
• Joe has no reason to prefer Chris view to Sarahs

7
Deception II

• Design mistakes withheld from Timmo
• No risk/cost to TimmoObligation to inform them?
• Withholding information is deception
• Ex Helens Travel Agency advertisement
• Misleading is not deception
• Prevent deception by asking the right questions,
  if possible

8
Confidentiality

• The firm wants to keep the Asmara Hotel flaws
  confidential within the firm.
• Being a professional, though, confidentiality
  must sometimes be taken out of account,
  especially when there are lives at stake.
• In engineering, clients are protected because
  reporting threatening information supersedes the
  confidentiality requirement.

9
6 Stages of Moral Development of Engineers

• Pre-professional I- Concern only for the
  individual
• Pre-professional II- While the engineer is aware
  of loyalty to the firm, one is still for
  self-advancement
• Professional I- Putting loyalty to the firm above
  any other consideration
• Professional II- Keeps loyalty to the firm but
  recognizes that the firm is part of the
  engineering profession as a whole
• Principled Professional I- One recognizes that
  service to human welfare is paramount and that
  brings credit to the firm and profession.
• Principled Professional II- One follows rules of
  universal justice, fairness, and caring for
  fellow humans. This can contradict social order
  or professional code but is the most important.