CHAPTER 2

PROFESSION AND ETHICS

Ramin Shrestha
Profession
• A profession can be defined as the systematic
knowledge acquired through specialized
training or education .
• Profession is taken as synonym to job or
occupation but is little different from them.
• Profession helps providing specialized type of
services for the needy person or community.

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Characteristics of Profession
1.Systematic knowledge and skills:
A profession requires systematic knowledge
and skill.
Without acquiring systematic knowledge and
processing certain skills, the occupation
cannot be a profession.
Thus medicine, engineering law are
considered as profession.

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Characteristics of Profession
2. Authenticity of knowledge and skill/
specialized types of services:
Because of their knowledge and skills ,
professionals do have authority and are also
honored by the clients.
Professionals provide specialized do have
some authority and are also honored by the
clients.

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Characteristics of Profession
Professionals provide specialized type of
service to the ordinary people that they do not
understand.
In this regard , professionals get the authority
of implementing or utilizing their knowledge or
skills on those ordinary people .
Hence, the ordinary people have to honor
them.

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 Characteristics of Profession

3. It is a public property and matter of public

evaluation:
• Professional practice of a professional is subjected to public
evaluation.
• Their clients are always watching each and every
professional behaviour and practice, hence, a professional’s
activity usually become a matter of public evaluation.
• General people always discuss about the practicing doctors
or engineering their behaviors on the society.
• In this way, a professional becomes a public property and
their clients them to be honorable.
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Characteristics of Profession
4. Bound by code of ethics:
There will be a code of ethics to regulate the
relationship between professionals, clients and
colleagues .
Professional are required to maintain high morale and
high standard of behaviors on the society.
They are not free to act as what they desire .
Their personal and professional behaviors are controlled
by the code of ethics prepared by the professional
associations/societies.
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Characteristics of Profession
5. Every profession has some set of behavior that is
similar of the other people of the same profession:
There will be professional culture developed by
professional organizations. Every professional do have
some set of behaviour that are similar to the other
person of the same profession.
For example, the different can be seen between the
behaviour of the engineers or the behaviors of the
lawyers.
Their professional societies or the communities help
maintain such culture.
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Factors affecting the morale of the profession/
engineering

1. Salary
2. Social norms/ values
3. Low morale ( state of despair hopelessness)
4. Implementation of the laws and regulation
5. Lack of political commitment

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 Professional engineering
• Professional engineering can be defined in various ways.
• However we can say that the practice of professional engineering is
any act of designing, composing evaluating advising reporting,
directing, supervising where in the safeguarding of life, health and
property or the public welfare is concerned and that requires the
application of engineering principles but does not include
practicing’s a natural scientist

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 • Nepal engineering council act, 2055 defines
the engineering as the occupation which is
done by the engineers.
• The engineer has been defined as a person
having graduate degree in engineering from
the institute reorganized by the council.

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Ethics
• Ethics can be defined as the science of rightness and
wrongs of conducts in purposive action which
involves choices and will.
• It is the expression of character that is settled habit
of will. The will is the self in action.
• Thus, ethics is the science of human character as
expressed in right or wrong conduct. Rightness and
wrongs refers it the good, which are the ideas of
human life.
• Thus ethics is the science of high test good. It is the
science of morality.
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 Moral and non moral (immoral) action
• Moral is concerned with human behaviors and the established
norms in the society.
• Moral means the standards of behaviour accepted by the
culture and religion of the society.
• Moral qualities are the behaviour that drives the society
forward.
• Non-moral is naturally the devoid of moral quality.

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 Moral and non moral (immoral) action

• All actions are not object of moral judgment.

• Only voluntary and habitual actions of
rational personality objects of moral
judgment; we cannot speak of the
phenomenon of the nature, eg hurricane,
floods famines etc moral or immoral.
• The actions of animal are neither moral nor
immoral.

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 Moral Dilemma and Ethical Decision Making

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THE TROLLEY PROBLEM

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THE FOOTBRIDGE DILEMMA

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Resolving Moral Dilemmas
• 1. Moral clarity
• – Need to know something is wrong! Do not ignore problems!
• – Loyalty to employer, responsibilities to public and environment
• (and complex relations between these)
• 2. Know the facts
• – Get hard, documented facts, discuss with others
• – Competence matters in gathering technical facts
• 3. Consider options
• – Diversity of actions to take? Evaluate/discuss.
• – Long-term, short-term perspectives, repercussions?
• – “Creative middle solution”?
• 4. Make a reasonable decision
• – Weigh all factors, recognize “gray areas”/compromises
• – An engineering design problem?
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Example of Ethical Dilemma
Victor is an engineer in a large construction firm. He has
been assigned the task of being the sole person to
recommend cement for the construction of a large apartment
building. After some research and testing, he decides to
recommend HIMAL cement for the job, which he determines
are of the lowest cost and highest quality. On the day after
Victor’s decision was made, an HIMAL representative
visits him and gives him a voucher for an all-expense-paid
trip to the annual HIMAL Technical Forum, which meets in
Bangkok, Thailand. The trip will have considerable educational value,
but will also provide day trips to the beach and other points
of interest. If Victor accepts, has he been bribed?
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• Do you see a “creative middle solution”?
• What about affect on future decisions on HIMAL?
• What is company policy? Is there an appearance of bribery?
• May not be a bribe, but still may not be a good idea!

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Why people are unethical?
1. Unawareness (थाहा नपाउनु)
2. Insensitivity to issues ( महत्व नदिनु)
3. Selfishness (स्वार्थ)
4. Faulty reasoning ( गलत कारण देखाएर)
5. Pressure (दबाब)

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 Codes of ethics and guideline for
professional engineering practice
1. A code ethics governs the conduct of all practitioners.
2. It endures that engineers practice within their realm of expertise
they do so in a fair and ethical manner and they place the good of
society above their personnel gain.
3. This is a means by which engineer governs themselves.
4. It is privileged earned over the years through knowledge, experience
and trust.

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 Five fundamental ethical values for codes of
ethics

1. Protection of life and safeguarding people.

2. Sustainable management and care for the
environment.
3. Community well being
4. Professionalism , integrity and competence
5. Sustaining engineering knowledge.

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 Rules of conduct:
Professional Engineers (PEs) shall:
1. Have proper regard in all their work for the safety and welfare of all
persons and for the physical environment affected by their work.
2.Undertake only work that they are competent to perform by virtue
of training and experience and shall express opinions on engineering
matters only on the basis of adequate knowledge and honesty
convictions.
3.Sigh and seal only reports , plans or documents that they have
prepared under their direct supervision and controls.

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Rules of conduct…
4.Act for their clients or employers as faithful agents
or trustees :always acting independently and with
fairness and justice to all participants.
5.Not engage in activities or accepts remuneration for
services rendered that nay create a conflict of
interest with their clients or employers without the
knowledge and consent of then clients on
employers.
6.Not disclose confidential information without the
consent of their clients or employers unless the
withholding of information is considered contrary to
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the safety of the public.
Rules of conduct…
7.Present clearly to their clients or employers
the consequence to be expected if their
professional judge is overruled by other
authorities n matters pertaining to work for
which they are professionally responsible
8.Not offer accept the convert (hidden)
payment for the purpose of securing an
engineering assignment.

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Rules of conduct…
9. Present their qualification competence or
advertise professional service only through
factual representation without
exaggeration.
10. Conduct themselves towards other
professional engineers and towards
employees and other with fairness and
good faith.
11. Report unprofessional practice
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 Professional code of conduct by NEC
1. Discipline and honesty
2. Politeness and confidentiality
3. Non- discrimination
4. Professional work
5. Deeds which may cause harm to the engineering profession
6. Personal responsibility
7. State name, designation and registration no.
8. No publicity or advertisement must be made which cause
unnecessary effect.

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 Four secular systems
Four secular systems or method for making ethical proper and good
decisions:
1. Utilitarianism: the principle to be followed is that of beneficiaries
. A decision or act is right or good only if it generates amount of
benefit for the largest number of people at the lowest cost or
harm to others.
2. Universalism the principal to be followed is of consistency. A
decision is right or good if everyone faced with the same set of
circumstance should be expected to make the same decision.

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Four secular systems…
3. Distributive justice – a belief in the primacy
of justice. A decision is good and proper if
the least advantage member of the society
somehow enjoy a better standard of living
the decision compared to as they did before.
4. Personal liberty- value of liberty. A decision
is right or good only if all members of our
society somehow have a greater freedom to
develop their own lives after the decision.

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Faith of an Engineer
I am an engineer. In my profession I take deep pride, but without vainglory: to it owe solemn
obligation that I am eager to fulfill.
As an engineer, I will participate in none but honest enterprise. To him that has engaged my
services, as employer or client. I will give the out most of performance and fidelity.
Without needed, my skill and knowledge shall be given without reservation for the public good.
From special capacity springs the obligation to use it well in the service of humanity: and I accept
the challenge that this implies.
Jealous of the high repute of my calling, I will strive to protest the interests and good name of any
engineer that I know to be deserving; but I will not shrink, should duty dictate, from disclosing the
truth regarding anyone that by unscrupulous act, has shown himself unworthy of the profession.
Since the age of stone, human progress has been conditioned by the genius of my professional
forbears. By them has been rendered usual to mankind nature’s vast resources of mineral and
energy. By them has been vitalized and turned to practical account the principal of science and
the relation of the technology. Except for this heritage of accumulated experience, my eff ort will
be feeble. I dedicate myself to the dissemination of engineer knowledge, and, especially to the
instruction of younger members of my profession in all its’ art and traditions.
To my fellows I pledge in the same full measure I ask of them, integrity and fair dealing, tolerance
and respect and devotion to the standards and the dignity of our profession; with consciousness,
always that our special expertness carries with it the obligation to serve humanity with complete
sincerity.

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 NEGLIGENCE, TORT,
AND LIABILITY

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Negligence, Tort, and Liability
NEGLIGENCE:
 The law expects certain standard of
behavior from the citizen it governs.
 When a person fails to meet these
standards by acting in way the law
considers unreasonable that person may
be guilty of Negligence.
 Negligence is the lack of proper
care or attention.
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Element of Negligence:
• In order of plaintiff to win damages the attorney must
establish the following three elements:
i. The defendant has legal obligation to behave in a
certain way “Duty of Care”
ii. The defendant fail to fulfill this obligation by acting
inappropriately “ Breach of that expectation”
iii. The plaintiff’s injury ( loss/ damage) was caused
because of defendants’ legal breach of contract “
Resulting damage”
• Once these three statements are determined to be
the case the court may offer compensation to the
injured victim of negligence.
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TORT
• Tort is an action or inaction of one or more individuals,
which leads to loss or damage of another.
• The court seeks compensate those who suffers as a
result.
• This is independent of any contract that might exits.
• It is any private or civil wrong (other than breach of
contract) for which damage may be claimed.
• Tort: (Law) an action that wrongly causes harm to
someone but that is not a crime and that is dealt with
in a civil court.

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Objective of tort law
i. Compensation to victim
ii. Transferring the cost of injury from victim
to the person responsible for that.
iii. Prevention of repetition of harmful
action.
iv. Defending the law and right of victim

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Liabilities

•Liability is an obligation to pay penalty

for full filling or not fulfilling.
•Liability is the state of being legally
obliged and responsible.
•Liability is an obligation to pay money
to another party.

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Vicarious Liability
• A person who commits tort is liable for the damage
that he caused.
• Another person may also be liable in respect of the
same tort even those he did not commit it.
• This can arise where an employee commits a tort in
the course of employment his employer is also liable
for his employee which is known as vicarious
liability. (Suffered or done by one person as a
substitute for another "vicarious atonement")

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Vicarious Liability
• In most states a participant in a crime (like a hold-up) may
be vicariously liable for murder if another member of the
gang shoots and kills a shopkeeper or policeman. (See:
liability)
• Example: Authorized to do an act properly but did it
negligently:
• Case of Century Insurance v Northern Ireland Road
Transport Board (1942)
• A driver was emptying the company’s petrol truck, lit a
cigarette, and caused an explosion The company was
vicariously liable because the employee was doing his job
negligently.
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Absolute Liability
• Sometimes also called as Strict Liability.
• It is primarily found in cases of defective products or
services.
Examples:
• Manufacture of vehicles that contain an accidental
structural flaw that causes crashes.
• Manufacture of food products that have become
tainted, resulting in illness or hazards and lead to
illness or death.

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Joint and Several Liability
• When two or more parties are jointly responsible for
an event or act that result in damage to another
party.
• Each individual is found to be just as responsible as
the other and they are held accountable for their
actions both together and individually.
Example:
• Married couple that defaults on a mutual debt.
• Doctors who practice in the same group.

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Liability in the partner in tort
• All the forms of partner are liable for a tort committed
by the partner who committed tort.
• In the ordinary course of the firm’s business or with
the expressed or implied authority of his copartners
such liability arises on the basis of vicarious because
each partner is the agent of his copartners.
• Hence lawyers sue everybody they can find. If one of
the parties is unable to pay the share the other parties
will be expressed to cover the shortfall.

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Duty
• “Due”= that which is owing.
• Duty conveys a sense of moral commitment or
obligation to someone or something .

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Types of Liabilities
• Liability under contract: e.g. Works not
meeting specification.
• Liability in tort: For causing injury to others
through negligence and reckless action.
• Liability under statue: In accordance with
the laws and statue.

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 THANK YOU !

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