Joe's Personal Statement of Commitment to Ethical Principles

The UK’s national academy of engineering, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Engineering Council have jointly created a statement of ethical principles. These principles are:

1. Honesty and integrity

2. Respect for life, law, the environment and public good

3. Accuracy and rigour

4. Leadership and communication

Honesty and Integrity

I personally define integrity as doing the right thing when no one is looking. This means that as a professional engineer you must take personal responsibility and act in an honest and trustworthy manner. This also includes standing up to any conflict of interests that may arise when working in a professional environment and to take the necessary measures to prevent or report unprofessional or even possibly illegal practices. It should also be held true that keeping an honest and upstanding work ethic is far more valuable and rewarding than any possible corrupt proceedings.

Respect for life, law, the environment and public good

As a professional engineer it is your obligation to respect and follow all rules and regulations, be it legal or morally correct. This also includes taking responsibility for any environmental impact you could have and preventative measures that should be taking to minimise the impact on the environment and the health of others. It should also be considered that any work done should have an upstanding effect for any succeeding generations.

Accuracy and Rigor

To commit to an accurate and rigorous approach means to use all knowledge you have to perform your role to your best ability. This means to treat all evidence or data with complete integrity and always consider an alternative viewpoint or opinion as valuable as your own. As a professional engineer you also have a duty to keep up to date on any new developments within your field and what implications this could have on any previous work that has been carried out. Committing to this principle also includes taking steps to minimise any risk that could be involved. You may not always be expected to work in situations that are impervious to danger, therefore you must always commit to minimise any risks involved for yourself or others.

Leadership and Communication

As an engineer it is imperative to have a good set of communications skills and a high standard of leadership. This means to have an objective approach and reduce any biases that may cause a concern professionally. This also includes listening to any public concerns or aspirations and to also promote awareness of any impact that may have been created.

IET Rules of Conduct

As an aspiring electrical engineer, it is also important that I follow the IET’s (institution of engineering and technology) own rules of conduct. As a member of the IET, you must familiarise and agree to abide by the rules of conduct for every subsequent membership year. The IET has a total of 34 rules that must be followed, and although there are many overlaps with institutions such as the engineering council, a shared code of conduct is paramount to any profession.

Royal Academy of Engineering Case Study

I would also like to refer to a case study from the royal academy of engineering. The case study concerns a breach of one’s honesty and integrity. The case study details how an engineering consultancy was assigned to develop a project in a developing country that will provide power to several thousand inhabitants. This project was to have funding from the government in which this company had asked for double the amount of money than would usually be required. This was to ensure that the government covers the whole cost of work.

The case study then gives some solutions to upstand the ethical principles should you find yourself in this situation. One such solution is to take legal action against the company as a stand against corruption and to ensure companies fulfil their financial obligations. I chose this particular example as it shows how corruption can possibly fly under the radar and what you should do to expose these unethical practices.

Royal Academy of Engineering statement of ethical principles | Engineering Council, Royal Academy of Engineering | [Internet]. 2005 [Cited 01/04/2020]. Available from: https://www.raeng.org.uk/publications/reports/statement-of-ethical-principles

IET Professional Ethics | IET| [Internet]. 3 October 2019 [Cited 01/04/2020]. Available from: https://www.theiet.org/about/governance/rules-of-conduct/

Engineering ethics in practice | Royal Academy of Engineering| [Internet]. 2003 [Cited 01/04/2020]. Available from: https://www.raeng.org.uk/publications/other/engineering-ethics-in-practice-shorter