Blowing the Whistle
If a vehicle was deemed unsuitable for road use and that the production of these cars would kill at least one person we as a team have responsibilities according to The Institution of Engineering and Technology.
One of the responsibilities we must follow according to their rules is number 6 where it says, “Members shall not undertake professional tasks and responsibilities that they are not reasonably competent to discharge”. This rule essentially means that engineers should not accept or engage in work or tasks for which they do not have the necessary knowledge, skills or experience in. If a product or system is not safe enough for the public, then we do not have enough knowledge to allow it to be used so therefore production should be immediately ceased.
Another responsibility stated is “Members shall not recklessly or maliciously injure or attempt to injure, whether directly or indirectly, the professional reputation, prospects or business of any other person”. This again coincides with the example given and since this production of cars will “attempt to injure” if put in context of the rule, production should be stopped.
If our team does become the whistle blower, then according to rule 31 the members of the team should co-operate with the procedure of disciplinary regulations.
I believe our team would blow the whistle as we all have a sense of duty to the greater population and believe that before the production of any engineered product, our number one priority should be the safety of others.
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