A real case study that happened a considerably long time ago but still has a big

Question

A real case study that happened a considerably long time ago but still has a big impact on the engineering community that it happened in. It gives a complex situation where an engineer has to take a vital decision based on his ethical background in a very critical situation. Location: A big hydraulic power station in an Arabic country. Circumstances: A young engineer (graduated three years ago) in his regular shift from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM the main control room of the power station. There is a main turbine that is ready to get into service after long stop for major maintenance. The engineer has to start the process of getting the turbine into service. He has to open the water gates to fill the basin of the turbine after taking all precautions and announcing for the operation. Suddenly after he starts filling the water basin, which is huge, he was informed by one of his assistants that there is an employee trapped in the basin accidently. It was obvious that the trapped employee going to die. The engineer to take a decision: either to continue getting the turbine into full service which means a certain death of the employee or closing water gates and getting the turbine out of service to save his life. Constrains: The engineer has certain constrains to be considered, namely: If he decided to get the turbine out of service, the whole electrical network of the country may be affected. This situation may cause big economic losses. Moreover losses in human lives may occur in other places around the country. A decision of getting the turbine out of service is a vital one. It should be taken by higher administration and usually takes some time, which is not available in the present situation. A human life is about to die in front of his eyes. If he gets the turbine out of service, he might risk losing his career. Assignment: Every student has to consider himself in this situation and decide what to do based on what he has learned in the course of "Professional Engineering Ethics". Every student has to submit a report discussing the case study from his point of view and determining the reasons for his decision.

Explanation / Answer

The engineer should get the turbine out of service and thus by saving the life of the employee who is trapped. As the results, there will be huge economic losses but that is not more importane that a human life. Basically, economy is for humans and not the other way round. As mentioned, there may be some loss of lives which again is may be and not sure but if the enginner decided not to turn the turbine out of service, he will definitely loss a life.

Also, when comes for the safely of human, he is a human first and hence should not care about the job as the job can be secured by talking to the administration.

Also, most importantly, the other employees will feel secure while working when they will be given the assurance that their lives matters more than the economy which will eventually lead to successful running of the turbine. If instead, the turbine was not shut down, and the employee dies, the other employees will never feel the same way about thecompany, will fear working out and may not do their work effectively will in the long run is again going to cost economy.

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