Code Of Ethics In The American Society Of Mechanical Engineers

After reading the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) code of ethics, the core values are satisfactory, but I believe there is room for improvement. The code of ethics is broad and all encompassing. This is good for Mechanical Engineers because they can venture into many fields, but leaves many of the codes up for interpretation. For example, an engineer working in the renewable energy industry might interpret “environmental impact” in rule number eight differently than someone working in a refinery. The engineer working in the refinery is less inclined to consider these effects because implementing technology such as scrubbers can eat into the bottom line and therefore risk his job security. On the other hand, the engineer working in the renewable energy position is way more likely to consider these effects, because the primary reason for renewables is to lessen the environmental burden of fossil fuels and slowly and wean off them. This canon is difficult to enforce, because who decides what is best for the environment. Most would argue the federal government is the enforcer, but current regulation reducing the Environmental Protection Agency is making this statement less true. Overall, it is important to have a clause that takes

I fully agree that the “safety, health, and welfare of the public” are the most critical goals of engineers. If engineers didn’t take this into account in all engineering decisions, thousands upon thousands of people would die. Additionally, the lawsuits that would accompany these injuries and deaths can cripple and engineering firm in a heartbeat. It is evident that the creators of this code made this the first canon because engineers should always have this on their mind, even if it for a simple design. A simple material selection in a joint can be the difference between a strong stable machine, and one that breaks apart into thousands of pieces within a