John Marsiglio - 352 Ethics Assignment

In the aftermath of the incident at Morales, and the very unfortunate death of Manuel
Ortega, it is important to consider the chain of events that let to this tragedy. It was no single
mistake that killed Manuel, but a series of ethical issues that staged the scene for catastrophe.
The first of many ethical issues came when Fred Martinez was hired on to Faust for the reason
that he had designed a similar chemical plant to the one Faust was looking to build. The next
ethical incident comes as Wally, Freds supervisor, describes his one rule: that Fred must tell him
everything first. The first meeting between Fred, Wally, Chuck, and the rest of the Faust team
was marked by infighting, and Fred was not given a real chance to assess the plan and bring up
his concerns as a PE. More ethical issues follow as Chuck decides that he needs to inflate the
budget in order to meet budget cuts from up top, and insists that they should purchase process
controls from his brother in law, the sales rep for L&L. Freds ethical issues follow him home
where he discloses elements of the plant design to his wife Maria, an attorney for the EPA. At
Marias urging Fred prompts Chuck and Wally (after a verbal argument about how added
environmental costs decrease company bonuses) to have Faust address the environmental
concerns. The final ethical conundrums come as Fred makes some aspects of the plant
maintenance (rather than design) issues, potentially leading to employee hazards, and when he
chooses a cheaper control set that, once new chemistry is implemented, requires partial manual
operation of the plant, leading to the tragic death of Manuel Ortega.
While all of these issues are unethical to a degree some are much worse than others.
Primarily the ones that are capable of inflicting harm are the most egregious. The most critical
would first be Wallys concern for his bonus and not the water safety of Morales residents.
Responsibilities do not stop at international borders. Changing the process and not upgrading the
controls so that the plant could be safely operated was another big issue. Trying to cut costs here
puts lives in danger. Another plant hazard was opting to make certain plant aspects maintenance
rather than design issues. While this saves money now in return for higher costs later, it also
makes the plant more dangerous for operators, as component failure may be less predictable this
way. Secondly there are issues of the way Faust conducts business. Wallys one rule, buying
L&L controls from Chucks brother in law, inflating budgets to survive cuts, and hiring Fred
because of a prior project he did, all emphasize a failing in the corporate moral quality.

The situation is very difficult from Freds perspective. He goes into the job because hes
looking for work, so this necessity makes him need Faust. Fred faces a few ethical issues, from
Faust wanting him to use knowledge of his previous employers plant to complete theirs,
choosing maintenance over design issues, choosing a controls system, and whether to tell his
wife about his project, and whether or not to take her recommendation. Fred should consider if it
is ethical to use his previous employers design, how a controls system should be chosen and
bought, and if he should show environmental concern even if the law is lax. Ideally he should
seek guidance from Wally or Chuck, but it seems like the two might be biased parties, so he
might be able to turn to an old mentor, or an ethics handbook. Wally is less ethical. He faces
ethical issues of choosing to employ Fred, and pushing Fred not to implement environmental
safety, and to use Chucks brother in law as a vendor. Wallys one rule is very self serving. His
motivation is to be able to have tight control over Fred, and to keep himself clear of blame in
case of an incident. Wallys one rule is dangerous because it prevents Fred from bringing up his
issues with the appropriate people. Were I Wally I would not have a one rule, I would push to use
the appropriate environmental safety, and allow Fred to choose design feature he thinks are best.
Were I in charge at Faust I would make a number of changes. First I would work to change the
culture, emphasising safety over profits. Second I would make the company less cutthroat,
recognizing that spending more upfront usually leads to savings down the line, and that being
unsafe is very expensive in the long run. This might mean that operations and engineering work
together to build a new plant. I would also change the reward system so that spending more
upfront for a better design won't negatively impact bonuses. In this process I would involve all
employees. I would also make more mandatory training on best practices. Finally I would make
sure to change how policies are communicated. Expectations would be set for employees on the
first day with their training on how the company operates, clients before we even meet Faust
must be upfront with all policies and to the public on our website which would emphasize safety
as our top concern. This would mean that Faust is fast is an inappropriate motto for the
company.