1. /ethics Ethics Toolkit

2. Contents Introduction___________________________________________________________________ What is Ethics?_________________________________________________________________ Section 1 – ICE Rules of Professional Conduct Explained________________________________ A short summary of the rules and what they entail Decision Making Flowchart______________________________________________ An ethical decision making flowchart for identifying and tackling ethical challenges Section 2 – Ethics in your Organisation______________________________________________ How to establish a culture of ethical decision making in your organisation Section 3 – Ethical Case Studies____________________________________________________ Eight ethics case studies to stimulate the ethics debate Section 4 – ICE Ethics Survey Results________________________________________________ Results of an Institution-wide ethics survey Section 5 – Further Reading_______________________________________________________ Background and insight into the world of ethics Final Remarks & Acknowledgements________________________________________________ Page 3 Page 4 Pages 5-11 Page 12 Page 13 Pages 14-20 Pages 21-24 Page 25 Page 26 2

3. A Foreword from ICE President 2012/13 Barry Clarke “By the very nature of our work in the built environment, we are at the front line of decisions that ‘Shape the World’. Behaving ethically is not a new concept in civil engineering and the ICE has long understood the need to advocate for ethical behavior in the profession. As our overseas community evolves to meet the demands of emerging global markets, it is vital that the ethical challenges ICE members will inevitably face are acknowledged, and that adequate support and guidance is made available. This toolkit will assist civil engineers in identifying the ethical consequences of their work, enabling them to fulfill their professional duties to the public, the environment and to society.” 3 Introduction The 2012/13 ICE President’s Apprentices have developed an Ethics Toolkit which will assist practicing engineers in identifying and tackling ethical challenges. It will also provide guidance on establishing a culture of ethics within their organisations. This Toolkit is the product of a year-long Ethics campaign and was informed by the results of an online Ethics discussion forum, an ICE members Ethics survey and feedback from several case studies published in the New Civil Engineer (NCE) magazine. The Toolkit is accessible online via the new dedicated ICE Ethics website www.ice.org.uk/topics/ethics.aspx. The 2012/13 ICE President’s Apprentices were Conall Doherty, Catherine Inglesfield, Sanaya Kerawala, Mark Sanders, Hayley Sharp & Richard Smith.

4. 4 What is Ethics? Ethics is often defined in two ways. The Cambridge dictionary gives the following two definitions: 1 – “a system of accepted beliefs that control behaviour” 2 – “the study of what is morally right and what is not” Ethics is a cornerstone of our profession and a key element in differentiating us as professionals. Ethics isn’t just about avoiding bad decisions, but also about choosing good ones. The significant contribution that engineering makes to society invokes an inherent duty on us to act ethically. There is a strong tradition of ethics in engineering. Institutions throughout the world oblige their members to demonstrate their commitment to ethical practice in various ways. For example, in the U.S.A. and Canada, professional engineers take an oath and wear a ring as a constant reminder of their moral, ethical and professional commitment to society. Equally, the ICE obliges its members to adhere to the Code of Professional Conduct which defines the ethical standards to which they should abide.

5. Integrity 6 52 34 Competency Public Interest Sustainability Continued Professional Development Notifying the ICE 1 5 ICE Code of Professional Conduct Explained The Purpose of the ICE Code of Professional Conduct is to lay down, both for its members and for the public, the ethical standards by which all members should abide. There are six rules, each covering a different aspect of professional conduct, as summarised in the diagram opposite. All rules are of equal importance and are applicable throughout the world. One of the core attributes of a civil engineer is the personal commitment to professional standards, and obligations to society, the profession and the environment. A large component of demonstrating this is through an understanding of and compliance with these Rules of Professional Conduct. The following pages provide further guidance on each rule. All advice is taken from the ICE Code of Professional Conduct unless stated otherwise. Read the full document on the ICE website: www.ice.org.uk/About-ICE/What-we-do/Professional-conduct

6. 1.Discharge your professional duties with integrity Duty of care Honesty Written agreements and insurance Plagiarism Respect and equality Bribery, deception and corruption 6 Rule 1 – Integrity Integrity 1

7. 7 Rule 2 – Competency Relevant knowledge and expertise Laws on copyright Nature and extent of your involvement Rights of intellectual property 2.Only undertake work you are competent to do 2 Competency

8. 8 Rule 3 – Public Interest Public Interest 3 Cultural, archaeological and ethnic heritage Preventing disasters and following relevant good practice Interests of all stakeholders 3.Have full regard for the public interest Impact on future generations Society and quality of life Health and Safety

9. 9 Rule 4 – Sustainability Sustainability 4 4.Show regard for the environment and for the sustainable management of natural resources Understand the contribution of other professions to sustainability Promote continued improvement of sustainable design, construction and maintenance Understand inter-related social, economic, environmental issues Collation and dissemination of good practice and views Possible ways of abiding by this rule could include: (non-mandatory advice from the ICE’s 'Advice on Ethical Conduct‘)

10. Rule 5 – Continued Professional Development Improve and update technical knowledge Contribute to the professional development of others Changes in statutory provisions Further education Knowledge, skills, competence 5.Develop your professional knowledge, skills and competence on a continuing basis Continued Professional Development 5 10

11. Rule 6 – Notifying the ICE 6. Notify the Institution: If convicted of a criminal offence Upon becoming bankrupt or disqualified as a Company Director Of any significant breach of the Rules of Professional Conduct by another member Notifying the ICE 6 11

12. This Ethical Decision Making Flow Chart provides a guidance framework for practicing engineers attempting to define and tackle ethical challenges. Start by identifying your options in a particular scenario and then apply each option to the flow chart in turn. Note that there may be more than one ethically correct course of action. Use the Ethical Case Studies on pages 14-19 to familiarise yourself with the process. It may be helpful to work through this with a colleague or in a group. The ICE Rules of Professional Conduct have been summarised for quick reference on pages 5-11 of this Toolkit. Section 1 – Decision Making Flowchart It is widely acknowledged that awareness of professional responsibility alone is insufficient when faced with an ethical dilemma. 12

13. Section 2 – Ethics in your Organisation The framework below proposes the fundamental components of establishing a culture of ethical decision making in your organisation: 13 Senior management must lead by example, using critical events in the business to reinforce the company values. They must demonstrate how everyone is accountable to the same ethical standards. Internal communications and education campaigns should be used to introduce and reinforce company ethical policy. Keeping the messages simple will ensure employees understand the ethical expectations. Statements of values, codes of conduct and ethics policies may be used to clearly define expectations. These can be internal policies or based on Institution policies, such as the ICE Code of Professional Conduct. Anonymous advice hotlines and whistleblowing procedures may help to reinforce these policies. Case studies and workshops are a good way of demonstrating tangible application, as well as facilitating discussion, stimulating debate and capturing opinions. Demonstrate how employees can define and tackle ethical dilemmas, and how to make use of the company’s support framework.

14. Section 3 – Ethical Case Studies Overview The case studies in this section will help you to develop an understanding of the ethical consequences of your work as a civil engineer. When considering these scenarios, you can begin by asking yourself “What, if anything, would you do in this situation?” When considering each of your options for these Case Studies, use the Ethical Decision Making Flow Chart (page 12) to identify which solutions may be more ethically correct. You can view other responses to the Case Studies on the ICE Ethics Community forum (see ICE Ethics Webpage). The aim of this community is to facilitate discussion on these issues, so why not post your own thoughts? Organising an Ethics Workshop If you are interested in running a workshop on ethical challenges, a facilitator’s pack is downloadable from the ICE Ethics Webpage. This also provides more information about how to use this toolkit in line with the case studies 14

15. Case Study 1 – Procurement CASE 1: Your manager asks you to prepare a tender document for the design stages of a large infrastructure project. The design brief from your client has specified a preference for a construction method that uses sustainable technology in order to meet the client’s ‘green’ targets on the project. You discover that nobody within the company has experience of this method and using a subcontractor would be too costly to the project. You bring this to your manager’s attention and are advised to finish preparing the submission without directly addressing the lack of experience in the text. It is suggested that the method will be researched in further detail if the tender is successful. 15 When considering each of your options for these Case Studies, use the Ethical Decision Making Flow Chart (page 13) to identify which solutions may be more ethically correct. You can view other responses to the Case Studies on the ICE Ethics Community forum at www.ice.org.uk/icecomm/Groups/Ethics.aspx. The aim of this community is to facilitate discussion on these issues, so why not post your own thoughts?

16. CASE 2: You are managing a programme evaluating the condition of your client’s wide-ranging high risk asset base. You have an established professional relationship with the client and your line manager stresses that we would like to maintain this because you are interested in bidding for future work from them. The ranges of asset types and materials have proved to be more considerable than you initially anticipated and programmed for. The project is over-running and the client has criticised the depth of analysis used in your assessment, attributing the delays to this. The client puts pressure on you to finish the project quickly and asks you to simplify the assessment process, but you have concerns this will lead to inadequate characterisation of risks. 16 Case Study 2 – Duty of Care

17. 17 Case Studies 3 & 4 – Health, Safety & Wellbeing CASE 3: You have just started working as the sole structural inspector on a residential construction site. Upon your first few visits to the site you notice a blatant disregard for health and safety, with project staff working in treacherous conditions. You raise the issue with the contractor who assures you that you will always have safe access to the point of inspection and that the inspector before you never raised any concerns. In any case the project is behind schedule and speed of construction must be prioritised. CASE 4: You notice that a junior colleague appears to be suffering from significant stress levels as a result of a high level of responsibility on a very sensitive project. Over a brief discussion with your manager, you learn that the project is under-resourced and that your colleague has barely slept for over a week. Your manager appears reluctant to commit more resources to the job as the profit margin is already quite low and the division within the business is struggling. Your manager mentions that many young engineers would grasp at the chance to take on this level of responsibility so early on in their career and that this is a fantastic opportunity for your colleague’s career progression. Your manager mentions that your colleague is delivering the project successfully and in any case there are only a few months remaining on the contract.

18. 18 Case Studies 5 & 6 – Sustainability CASE 5: You are working as a civil engineering consultant based in the UK. Your company has recently won a bid for a large-scale infrastructure development in a remote international region. Your personal opinion is that the development is unnecessary and hasn't been properly justified due to the lack of a national sustainability framework or public review body. You question how sustainable the project is and whether it fits with both your personal work ethos and that of your company. You raise this with your line manager who understands your concerns. However your manager stresses the importance of the project to developing a relationship with the client and for the company’s global reputation. Your manager explains that doing business must take priority in times of recession. CASE 6: You are on your company’s Board of Directors and currently deciding whether to bid for work associated with the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar. The Board is divided. Some completely disagree with the principle of Qatar hosting the world cup due to the blatant disregard for the environment through such vast infrastructural development. However, others refer to the economic and social components of sustainability being beneficial to Qatar. Qatar is attempting to use its resources and this global event to establish itself as a progressive nation and as a catalyst for its own societal development.

19. CASE 7: Your company has successfully put considerable effort into promoting female recruitment in recent years, however this has generally been focused on less senior positions within the company and no women have ever sat on the Board of Directors. A vacancy has arisen within the Board and your colleague has put herself forward for the role. You overhear other colleagues talking of their concern that the candidate is not experienced enough for the role. Concerns are growing that if chosen for the role she will perform poorly and this will reflect upon all female staff within the company, impacting their potential progression. Case Studies 7 & 8 – Equality CASE 8: You have been asked by your manager to oversee the recruitment of 5 new graduates. As you are reviewing the applications, you notice that only 3 women have applied for the job, compared to over 20 men. You begin by shortlisting the applications based on merit alone and realise that only 1 of the women actually meet the experience requirements, compared with 12 of the men. Your manager has previously advised that you consider the new Engineering Diversity Concordant the company has agreed to. It must now demonstrate its commitment to addressing the gender, ethnicity and disability gap in the profession. A colleague advises that you select 2 women and 3 men for the role and that any inexperience can be quickly made up for on the job. 19

20. Case Study 9 – Bribery CASE 9: You are working as the director of a small civil engineering firm and have began bidding for work overseas due to the volatility of the domestic market. In one instance, you travel abroad to meet a client and to agree the final contract on a sizeable project which would provide a secure pipeline of work for the next 18 months. When finalising the terms and conditions of the contract, the client verbally advises that you make a small contribution to his development fund. Not wanting to forget your ethical principles or lose the opportunity to do business, you politely challenge the proposal. The client fully appreciates your reluctance however he advises that it is common practice in this country and advises that sometimes minor compromises must be made to do business. In any case the contribution would be insignificant compared to the number of jobs it will save in the company. 20

21. A survey was sent out to all ICE members in 2013 to understand their views on ethics, receiving over 240 responses from across the world. Some key outputs of the Ethics Survey results are illustrated on the following pages. 21 Ethics Survey Results Responses by Location

22. 22 Ethics Survey Results Over 60% of engineers get involved in the ethical challenges of their companies and organisations 69% of responses felt that the ICE should be doing more to promote ethics 81% of respondents were aware of the ICE Code of Professional Conduct however only 11% said they had referred to it in a professional situation. 62% of respondents want to see more online ethics resources and example case studies relevant to them and their work.

23. “I would challenge the decision internally. If challenge is rejected, consider whether you wish to stay with company.” “Use the company's internal processes to flag up the issue and seek information / clarification on their decision.” “I think one has to accept the decision or resign.” “Try to understand the root cause for the decision.” 23 Ethics Survey Results (continued) Over 50% of all graduates and almost 80% of senior engineers, would challenge a course of action they feel is unethical:

24. 24 Ethics Survey Results (continued) The results indicate that as engineers progress in their career, they place more emphasis on the importance of ethics in decisions they make: Graduates Technicians Engineers Senior Eng/ Team Leader Business Development Retired 58% of respondents have worked professionally outside of the UK 35% of respondents are members of other professional institutions

25. Professional Guidance ICE Ethics Webpage and Community www.ice.org.uk/topics/ethics and www.ice.org.uk/icecomm/Groups/Ethics.aspx ICE Code of Professional Conduct www.ice.org.uk/About-ICE/What-we-do/Professional-conduct ICE Advice on Ethical Conduct www.ice.org.uk/Information-resources/Document-Library/Advice-on-ethical-conduct Royal Academy of Engineering www.raeng.org.uk Further Reading Engineering in Society, Royal Academy of Engineering Introduction to Engineering Ethics, Mike Martin and Roland Schinzinger Ethics in Engineering, Mike Martin and Roland Schinzinger Introduction to Business Ethics, Joseph Desjardins Environmental Ethics, John Benson The Ethics of Climate Change: Right and Wrong in a Warming World, James Garvey Adapt, Tim Harford Engineers Australia Value Exchange Forum engineersaustralia.vxcommunity.com Online Ethics Centre www.onlineethics.org Further Reading 25

26. This toolkit was produced by the 2012/13 ICE President’s Apprentices: Conall Doherty, Catherine Inglesfield, Sanaya Kerawala, Mark Sanders, Hayley Sharp & Richard Smith The Apprentices would like to thank: Rob Lawlor, Lecturer in Applied Ethics, Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied Centre, University of Leeds Barry Clarke, ICE President 2012/13 and Professor of Civil Engineering Geotechnics, University of Leeds The Apprentices would also like to thank their organisations for their support: Atkins, Buro Happold, CH2M HILL, Mott MacDonald & Thames Water 26 Final Remarks & Acknowledgements What can I do next? T hree things you can do to drive forward the ethics campaign: 1.Ethics is a broad subject, ranging from sustainability to corruption. Think about projects you work on and ethical issues that may arise. It is not just the project manager’s responsibility to ensure ethical practice. Why not discuss the issues with colleagues in project meetings with contributions from staff at all levels? 2.It is our duty to inform others of good ethical practice. Why not organise a workshop in your company to help promote awareness of ethical issues by debating case studies? 3.The ICE’s Six Rules of Professional Conduct are relevant to non-ICE members since we work in a multi- disciplinary environment. Why not share best practice by giving a lunchtime presentation on ethical practice and the ICE Code of Professional Conduct?