2009 Ethics Answers

Question 1:
Academic Requirements for Professional Engineering Status
Graduation from engineering program
accredited engineering program in canada
science program
technologist program
a) Cannot be from any background

Question 2:
Competence:
lack of knowledge, skill, or judgment that demonstrates the member is unfit to
carry out duties as a professional
practitioner must work within limits of competence
e) Engineer cannot work outside area of competence

Question 3-7: Case Study

Question 3:
Conflict of Interest
Cannot accept such a big gift
if he accepts the gift, public perception will be that he was not behaving ethically
e) Cannot accept, public perceive him as acting unethically

Question 4:
If he accepts trip,
Six causes for disciplinary action:
Professional misconduct (unprofessional conduct)
any conductdetrimental to the best interest of the public
or that harms or tends to harm the standing of the profession
generally
Incompetence
Negligence
Breach of the Code of Ethics
Physical or mental incapacity
Conviction of a serious offence
D) If he accepts the gift he may be in breach of ethics

Question 5:
If he takes trip
Acting in own interest
may be perceived as a COI
E) act in own interest and COI
Question 6:
Which COI paragraphs Apply?
4: A practitioner must disclose immediately to the practitioners client any
interest, direct or indirect, that might be construed as prejudicial in any way to the
professional judgment of the practitioner in rendering service to the client.
7.iv: not attempt to gain an advantage over other practitioners by paying or
accepting a commission in securing professional engineering work; and...
D) both 4 and 7.iv

Question 7:
free seminar does not compromise engineers independent professional
judgement
ethical: dinner following seminar are court provided to engineers in a
geographical area
He is accepting an opportunity to become educated on a particular topic
e) Behaviour is ethical because it doesnt not compromise professional judgement,
dinner is courtesy for all engineers , and opportunity to become educated on topic

Question 8:
D) Bribery is illegal, immoral and unethical

Question 9:
D) Speak in favour of development and preface your statement by identifying your
affiliation with company, also stating you are exercising your rights as a citizen

Question 10:
Requirement for maintaining competence to practise engineering
D) Maintain current knowledge of your discipline

Question 11:
E) Ethics is the study of good/evil, right/wrong, helpful/harmful

Question 12:
Characteristic of a Profession:
Specialized knowledge
Self-regulation
responsibility to public
D) NOT: High Salary

Question 13-17: Case Study:

Question 13:
Ethical dilemma related to which paragraphs of COI (swapping for cheaper metal parts)
E) not acting in good faith
Question 14:
Which does not violate COI
A) Omega does not sign report knowing a cheaper part was produced

Question 15:
Omega doesnt sign, but manager gets another to sign report
E) ABC is committing fraud, both engineers are acting unethically and braking the law.
By acting in the interest of increasing profit illegally, ABC company is jeopardizing its
future

Question 16:
Which ethics theory justify omega not signing report
Duty ethics
Rights ethics
Utilitarianism ethics
virtue ethics
E) All the above

Question 17:
Replacing parts with cheaper alloys, ABC company and engineers are
E) vicariously liable, committing fraud, breaking contract and behaving unethically

Question 18:
Not COI:
voting in public election on enviro issue that directly affects business
develop site plan for highway construction in own community
accept coffee mug with suppliers business logo
A) COI: serving on codes/standards committee for own industry sector

Question 19:
Ethical Activities
review work on another PENG without their consent
providing consultation services
providing free services for a charity
Unethical Activities
C) signing plans prepared by an unknown persons

Question 20:
Six causes for disciplinary action:
Professional misconduct (unprofessional conduct)
Incompetence
Negligence
Breach of the Code of Ethics
not enforceable under the Act
describes ideal professional conduct, but a separate definition of
professional misconduct identifies the lower limit of acceptable behaviour
 States duties and standard of care, which under section 72, can
be seen as part of professional misconduct if breached.
Physical or mental incapacity
Conviction of a serious offence
D) Breach of Ethics may NOT be subject to discipline as a PEO

Question 21-26: Cast Study

Question 21:
By notifying VP operations and Board of Trustees, Company engineer has
B) not taken sufficient actions with respect to the Engineering COE in ontario

Question 22:
ENgineering acted inappropriately WRT COI when she:
D) continue advising assistant and allow authority to be transferred to non-licensed
engineer

Question 23:
B) or E)?

Question 24:
COI in scenario:
E) Engineer does not take action when VP operations transfers responsibility to assistant
AND engineer does not take action when VP operations refuses to take action

Question 25:
Reasonable course of action
A) notify president to take action

Question 26:
VP operations if problem materializes means
A) places safety of public a risk

Question 27:
Factors taken into account deciding course of action to follow
clients of company affected by dilemma
impact of decision on companys public image
effect of decision on worker safety
impact of morales of occupational workers
E) all the above
Question 28:
Duty under provinces COI
Ontarios Section 77. Code of Ethics
2. A practitioner shall, regard the practitioners duty to public welfare as
paramount
B) Duty to engineer/company LESS THEN duty to protecting public welfare
Question 29:
Engineers Duty to him/herself
is permitted to dispute company requests
should keep up to date with relevant emerging engineering codes
should uphold the intent of the engineering COI
E) All of the above

Question 30:
Common Areas Where Ethical Dilemmas Arise:
Public safety and welfare
Conflict of interest
Engineering standards and practice
Intellectual property rights
Fair trade practices
International engineering ethics
Research ethics
D) Choosing a supplier of electronic circuitry AND exploiting intellectual property in the
form of an invention

Question 31:
Inappropriate Activities
make big selection b/c it will benefit career of spouse
accepting an expensive gito to make a certain decision
Appropriate Activities
actions that are intended to improve your companys internal processes and
procedures
D) bid selection to benefit spouse AND accept expensive gift to make decision

Question 32:
Professional Misconduct
Disciplines an engineer who reports to him/sher without investigating the
situation
NOT Professional Misconduct:
making a decision, applying deal
A) discipline without investigation

Question 33:
Engineers who take management roles in companys
have to ensure engineering titles are used correctly
are unwise to override the judgement of engineers on technical matters without
investigating the matter carefully
DO have to make decisions related to allocating human resources
D) make sure engineering titles are used correctly and are unwise to override the
judgement of engineers on technical matters without investigation
Question 34:
Factors when developing an action plan facing an ethical dilemma
effect of ALL stakeholders affected by dilemma
circumstances surrounding dilemma and related to those involves
D) circumstances surrounding dilemma and related to those involved

Question 35:
Ethical Dilemmas in Biomed Labs:
safeguarding the IP of those who develop new technology/treatment
safeguard rights of human subject in experimental studies
safeguarding rights of people treated with medical devices
E) All of the above

Question 36:
Unethical Conduct:
theft of company supplies that
Ethical Conduct:
balancing financial resources
taking appropriate action on risk to public safety
c) theft if company supplies

Question 37:
Codes of Ethics of 2 Engineering Organizations
Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO)
a licensing association
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
a learned society
A) have differences related to different mandates of PEO and IEEE

Question 38:
P.ENG with own company
spends time dealing with decisions involving material and HR as well as relations
between people
experiences high level of stress due to responsibilities
ARE permitted to deal with technical engineering details
D) deal with materials, HR and people, and under high stress. CAN look at technical
details
Question 39:
COI-Engineer should:
SHOULD point out errors made by him/her own self
NOT exaggerate technical errors made by another engineer
point out tech errors made by another engineer
C) point out tech errors by another engineer (or yourself)-but not exaggerate

Question 40:
COE-An engineer can:
 explain tech. issues to public
point out risks to welfare of public
question another engineers competence
point of technical errors of another engineer
E) explain tech issues, risks to public welfare, question another engineers competence
and point out tech errors

TRUE/FALSE
Question 41:
(T) Ethical behaviour is timeless and universal
Question 42:
(F) It if it legal is it NOT always ethical
Question 43:
(F) Giving a bribe is NOT ethical if it is part of the culture of the country
Question 44:
(T) If the impact of your decisions causes harm you were probably unethical
Question 45:
(F) Organizations should NOT be held accountable for the behaviour of their
suppliers
Question 46:
Private sector should NOT accept more responsibility for what was the
responsibility of the government because globalization is reducing the power of
governments and increasing the power of the private sector
Question 47:
(F) Being socially responsible is NOT about making money and giving some
away
About It if it legal is it NOT always ethical
Question 48:
(T)A CND engineer resp for environ. impact in antoher country should apply
same enviro standards as those used in canada
Question 49:
(T)Sustainability report provides the framework for reporting an organization's
economic, environmental and social performance (Triple Bottom Line)
Question 50:
(F) You CAN be accountable for harm caused by your decisions even if you did
not know they would cause harm
Question 51:
(T)Organizations should use their relationships with other orgs to promote
positive outcomes including SR(Social Responsibility) throughout supply chain
Question 52:
(T)CND laws concerning workers rights and safety ensure that civil, political,
social, economical and cultural rights are met
Question 53:
(F)Ethical behaviour is NOT in accordance with the norms of behaviour of the
country you are living in
Question 54:
(T) Ethical engineers always considers teh impact that their designs (products,
processes or services) have on environment/employees
Question 55:
(T) Avoid damage and restore the natural environment
Question 56:
(T) Society believes that the negative impacts of human activity on the
environment is outweighed by the societal benefits
Question 57:
(T) Canada is top 3 worst offenders in most critical areas of environment
Question 58:
(T) Violations of Human rights are increasing because of internationalization of
armed conflicts and civil wars, terrorism, HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases,
environmental issues and natural disasters
Question 59:
(F) Socially responsible organizations DO have to give special consideration to
vulnerable groups because they are the responsibility of government
Question 60:
(T) Consumption of energy and other resources have ben rising faster than the
rate of population growth and faster thant the capacity of the natural envionment to
absorbe the impacts of this consumption
Question 61:
(T) Ethical organizations idenitfy and manage risks
Question 62:
(T) Our environmental footprint now exceeds the worlds ability to regenerate by
25%
Question 63:
(T) Engaging with your stakeholders in an ethical and transparent way enhances
accountability to stakeholders and overall business performance
Question 64:
(F) An orgs responsibility for ethical labour practices applies does NOT only
apply to the relationship of the organizations with its direct employees
Question 65:
(T) Engineers should be held accountable for knowing which laws and
regulations or industry standards relate to what their organization does
Question 66:
(T) Organizations should know how to respond to the needs of their community
Question 67:
(T) Org should ensure the principles of social responsibility that are addressed in
mission, vision and operating procedures are integrated into core proceses and decision
making
Question 68:
(T) Canada has significantly reduces child poverty in the last 20 years
Question 69:
An organization is socially responsible when
it accepts responsibility for the impacts of its decisions on society and the
environment through ethical/transparent behaviour
it contributes to sustainable development and the welfare of society
it takes into account the expectations of its stakeholders
it is in compliance with applicable laws and is consistent with international norms
of behaviour
E)All of the above

Question 70:
Ethical behaviour includes:
acts, omissions, risks, and dependencies for which and indiv/org is responsible to
those with legitimate interest
Unethical Behaviour
The direct impact only, of the decisions and activities on stakeholders
Respecting the rights of your employees for equitable treatment ALWAYS
A)acts for which an indiv/org is responsible to those with legitimate interest

Question 71:
Sustainable development is
Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs
C)Meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs

Question 72:
Being Socially responsible will
Benefit society as well as the socially responsible organization
enhance competitiveness if applied strategically
always reduce risk
show that doing good and doing what is good for business can be the same
E) All of the above

Question 73:
The World Wildlife Funds Living planet report
Confirms that we are using the planets resources faster than they can be
renewed
our impact on the planet (humanity's ecological footprint) has more than tripled
since 1961
Our footprint now exceeds the worlds ability to generate about 25%
E)All of the above

Question 74:
ISO 26 000 is written to
 provide practical guidance related to identifying and engaging with stakeholders
increase confidence and satisfaction in organizations among their customers and
other stakeholders
be consistent with and not in conflict with existing documents, international
treaties and convention and existing ISO standards
not be intended to reduce the government's authority to address the Social
Responsibility of organizations
Question 75:
Thanks to rapid advances in engineering and technology there is a decline in

Question 76:
The principles of social responsibility defined in ISO 26 000 include
Recognition of stakeholders and concerns
transparency
respect for fundamental human rights
respect for diversity
E) All of the above

Question 77:
Organizations need a Risk Management System Because
Competent employees take shortcuts and unknowingly take major risks
all organizations have one
to eliminate risks
it helps find the guilty party when something goes wrong
E)All of the above

Question 78:
Organizations are becoming more socially responsible because
Their activities are subject to increased scrutiny by a wide variety of groups and
individuals
policies/practices applied by an organization in different locations can be readily
compared
they can learn to be innovative in doing things and solving problems
without urgent, aggressive steps to stop greenhouse gas emissions, climate
change will cause devesting heat waves, floods, starvations, and disease
E) All of the above