Ethics & Professional Engineering Practices Flashcards
7 cards from real EIT practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning โ missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Ethics & Professional Engineering Practices flashcards as text
An engineer is offered a position with a competitor while working on a sensitive project. They should:
Answer: Disclose the situation to their current employer and avoid misusing confidential information
Engineers must disclose employment conflicts to their current employer and never misuse confidential or proprietary information in transitioning between employers.
The concept of 'responsible charge' in engineering means:
Answer: Having direct control and personal supervision over engineering decisions
Responsible charge refers to direct control and personal supervision of engineering work, not merely administrative or financial oversight.
A client asks an engineer to certify a design as safe when the engineer believes it may not be. The engineer should:
Answer: Refuse to certify until the design is verified as safe
An engineer must not certify work they believe is unsafe regardless of client pressure, indemnification clauses, or financial consequences.
When two engineers disagree on a technical safety matter in a public project, the ethical resolution is to:
Answer: Seek additional analysis, peer review, or third-party expert review
Technical disagreements affecting safety should be resolved through additional analysis, peer review, or independent expert consultation rather than hierarchy or voting.
Intellectual property created by an engineer while employed generally belongs to:
Answer: The employer, if created using company resources and within the scope of employment
Under most employment agreements and the 'work for hire' doctrine, IP created by employees using employer resources within their job scope belongs to the employer.
An engineer who accepts compensation from a material supplier for specifying that supplier's products, without disclosing this to the client, is guilty of:
Answer: Bribery and undisclosed conflict of interest
Accepting undisclosed compensation from a supplier whose products you specify constitutes a bribe and a concealed conflict of interest, violating fundamental ethics codes.
Under the NSPE Code of Ethics, engineers shall not reveal confidential information without consent EXCEPT when:
Answer: Required by law or when necessary to protect the public from a safety hazard
Confidential information may only be disclosed without consent when required by law or when withholding it would endanger the public safety.