The Ethical Responsibilities of HVAC Designers
Ethical HVAC System Designers
Like most jobs, mechanical engineers have their own set of ethical responsibilities. These responsibilities vary depending on the type of work you do. In this case I will be referring to a job that involves designing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, or also known as HVAC systems.
Diagram of an HVAC system
Having this job position would give me the responsibilities of designing a working system, writing reports, coordinating work with the clients and others involved, documenting, and analyzing the work. The systems I design would have to work as advertised, not have any underlying issues (such as overheating), and be environmentally friendly. I would also need to communicate with those I interact with for the sake of my job, such as co-workers and clients. I'll need to treat my co-workers as equal human beings and not be prejudiced by any of their differences that don't affect work (such as race, sex, height, appearance, or familiarity).
Wiring issues
HVAC systems are involved in more fires than preferable. In 2010 alone, HVAC systems were involved in and estimate of 7,400 home structure fires in the US, resulting in a loss of 29 lives. Mechanical or electrical failures in these systems cause loss of life, injuries, and property damage. An ethical responsibilities of anyone associated with the design in implementation of these systems are to make sure that they do not malfunction, and in the case that they do, they are not deadly.
It's safe to say you're going to be working in a pretty important field in a future. We all use these systems every day, and it's funny how we forget about how much we rely on them until they fail on us. I agree with you that safety should be the number one concern, as we shouldn't have to think about starting a fire when turning on the A/C. I especially agree with your sentiment that even though malfunctions are bound to happen, it's important to minimize the damage they cause.
ReplyDeleteYour overall structure and grammar is spot on from what I can tell, so I've got nothing to recommend there. I'm guessing there haven't been too many ethical controversies regarding HVAC systems, but having an article that outlines one would help to push this blog to the next level.
This entry is too short. You should have spent more time with each issue and given possible examples for how ethics could have been implemented, or what could happen if they are implemented poorly. The reader doesn't learn too much about the specifics of the position and who you will be working with. A short definition of what ethics are could have helped with this.
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