Engineering code of Ethics Principle
Software engineer shall…
1. PUBLIC shall act consistently with the public interest.
2. CLIENT and EMPLOYER shall act in a manner that is in
the best interest of their client and employer
consistent with the public interest.
3. PRODUCT shall ensure that their products and related
modifications meet the highest standard.
4. JUDGEMENT shall maintain integrity and
independence in their professional judgement.
5. MANAGEMENT engineering managers and leaders
shall subscribe and promote an ethical approach to
the management of software development and
maintenance.
6. PROFESSION shall advance the integrity and
reputation of the profession consistent with the
public interest.
7. COLLEAGUES shall be fair to and supportive of their
colleagues.
8. SELF shall participate in lifelong learning regarding
the practice of their profession and shall promote an
ethical approach in their profession.
Moral Responsibility
A practical way of examining moral responsibility is to
consider the related concept of legal liability for causing harm.
Legal liability in many ways parallels to moral responsibility. To
be legally liable for causing harm is to warrant punishment for,
or to be obligated to restitution for, harms.
Conditions/Concepts:
 Malicious intent - if a person can intentionally or
knowingly and deliberately cause harm.
 Recklessness - a person can recklessly cause harm by
not aiming to cause harm by being aware that harm
is likely to result.
 Negligence – a still weaker kind of legal liability and
moral responsibility is usually associated with
negligently causing harm.
Charge of negligence shall meet four conditions:
1. A legal obligation to conform to certain standards of
conduct is present.
2. The person accused to negligence fails to conform to
standards.
3. There is a reasonably close casual connection
between the conduct and resulting harm.
4. Actual loss or damage to the interests of another
result.
Basic management principles in occupational health and
safety
Occupational Health and safety is concerned with the
identification, evaluation, and control of hazards associated
with the workplace.
Occupational injuries – includes any harm from a workplace
accident (fracture, cut, burn…)
Occupational illness – includes abnormal conditions caused by
exposure to factors associated with the workplace.
Safety – usually concerned with situations that cause injury
and deals with hazards that lead to severe and sudden
outcomes.
Health – usually concerned with situations that cause illness or
disease and deals with adverse reaction to exposure over
prolonged periods to hazards that are usually less severe, but
still dangerous.
TYPES OF HAZARDS
 Mechanical
 Fall-related
 Lifting-related
 Pressure
 Sound, noise and vibration
 Heat, cold and temperature
 Fire
 Explosion
 Electrical
 Chemical
 Biological
 Toxic, carcinogenic and other harmful substances
 Radiation
 Automation
 Ergonomic
 Human and psychological factors (stress)
Stakeholders
Stakeholders affected by occupational health and safety are
the following:
 Employers
 Employees
 Government and other regulatory authorities
 Compensation and insurance providers
 The public
Employees and employers often are jointly responsible for
occupational health and safety and employers are accountable
for non-compliance.
Importance of occupational health and safety
Main reasons for being concerned about occupational health
and safety are the following:
 Economics – the economic cost, both direct and
indirect, of workplace accidents, injuries and illness
are significant.
 Legality – Occupational Health and Safety Acts
provide workers with the right to a safe work
environment. The legal penalties that are possible for
violations of health and safety legislation are
significant and can include civil lawsuits and criminal
prosecutions.
 Morality – it is generally accepted that employers
have a moral responsibility to provide a safe working
environment for their employees.
Knowledge needed to address occupational health and safety
 A technical understanding of, and ability to assess,
recognize and prevent, all types of workplace hazards
and risk factors.
 Knowledge of relevant acts, standards, regulations,
codes, laws, and liability.
 Knowledge of worker’s compensation schemes and
programs.
 Medical knowledge, including physiotherapy,
psychology and health care.
 An ability to deal with and motivate people,
communicate clearly, and develop and manage plans.
Workplace qualities needed for successful health and safety
outcomes
 A positive health and safety culture, including strong
active senior leadership and workforce.
 An effective internal responsibility system that
ensures all members of the workplace fulfill their
health and safety responsibilities.
 An occupational health and safety management
system that is geared towards control of risk.
Activities in occupational health and safety programs can be
broken down and categorized in several ways. Three levels of
interventions:
 Identification and removal of hazards and risk factors.
 Protection of workers from potential consequences
of exposure hazards and risk factors.
 Care of workers who have been harmed from
exposure to workplace hazards or risk factors.
Types of measures:
 Engineering and technical measures – reduce
exposure to workplace hazards through technical
modification. (redesigning workplace or providing
protective equipment)
 Process measures – reduce exposure to workplace
hazards by modifying work processes. (avoiding
fatigue through breaks…)
 Behavioral measures – improve employee behavior,
attitudes, knowledge and skill of occupational health
and safety. (training, education to promote
awareness)
 Administrative measures – reduce exposure to
workplace hazards by making administrative
modifications. (use of effective operating procedures,
clear communications)
Members of health and safety team
 A representative of senior management
 Safety engineer
 Environment engineer
 Industrial hygienist
 Health physicist
 Occupational health nurse
 Occupational physician
Health and safety manager is normally the key person in the
team, and must coordinate the team efforts and activities. The
representative of the senior management is instrumental in
ensuring support for occupational health and safety initiatives.
Supervisor must imply:
 Qualified in terms of knowledge, training and
experience.
 Familiar with relevant acts and regulations.
A supervisor is responsible for ensuring compliance with acts
and regulations as well as the use of work practices, personal
protective equipment and appropriate emergency procedures.
Computer matching where unrelated information from several
different sources is put in a single data bank.
Privacy versus Social Utility
An understanding of the theories of utilitarianism and
respect for persons can help us anticipate and in fact construct
most of the major arguments regarding social policy that have
been put forth with regard to computers and privacy.
Finding a creative middle way
The issue of computers and privacy presents a conflict of
values. The abilities of computers to collect and match data
can provide significant benefits to the public.
Guidelines for “fair information practices”:
1. The existence of data systems containing personal
information should be public knowledge.
2. Personal information should be collected for narrow,
specific purposes and used only in ways that are
similar to and consistent with the primary purposes
for its collection.
3. Personal infos should be collected only with the
informed consent of the persons about whom the
information is collected or their legal representatives.
4. Personal infos should not be shared with third parties
without notice or consent of those about whom the
information is collected.
5. To ensure accuracy, the time information can be
stored should be limited, and individuals should be
permitted to review the information and correct
errors.
6. Those who collect personal data should be ensure the
security and integrity of personal data systems.

COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY: Privacy and Social Policy

Privacy and Boundary-Crossing
Informational Privacy can be violated when others obtain
information about us that we would prefer that they did not
have.
Computing technology can violate our informational privacy by
serving as the means for construction of databases about our
income, purchasing habits, political and religious affiliations
and sexual orientation.
Physical Privacy can be violated by an invasion of bodily
integrity such as unwanted touching or rape. Unwanted
telephone solicitations are also a form of invasion of physical
privacy.
Decisional privacy is freedom from governmental or other
outside interference to make decisions about such issues as
one’s political and religious beliefs and practices or general
lifestyle.
Proprietary privacy is the ability to control the use of one’s
name, likeness, or other aspects of one’s identity. Computers
assist the violation of proprietary privacy when they are used
in “identity theft”.