Accounting publicly for benefits and risks

 

 

 

Engineers should account publicly for benefits and risks in the following manner:

Engineers must remain as objective as humanly possible in their investigations and conclusions.

They must also state openly any personal biases that they may have about the project being investigated.

Engineers, even if they are acknowledged experts, may not have complete   knowledge of the issues at hand.

They  should,  if  necessary,  admit  their  lack  of  knowledge,  in  any particular  area publicly.

A  willingness  to  admit  uncertainty  and  also  to  reveal  methodology  and  sources particularly when numerical data is presented.

The way statistical information is presented can create misconceptions in the public mind. Hence it should be presented in a way to improve realistic interpretations.

They must consider the views of the parties affected by the project under study before

coming to conclusions.

The type of action taken should be morally evaluated regardless of its consequences.

If  it  is  wrong  to  violate  certain  rights,  then  figuring  out  the  benefit  of  the consequences of doing so is irrelevant.