Engineering Ethics -  "Safety, Risk, and Liability" - Class Discussion Questions

Read: Harris, Pritchard, and Rabins - Chapter 7 - "Safety, Risk, and Liability" and Case 46 Pulverizer on p. 337.

1. How do the approaches to risk of engineers including risk experts, the general public, and government regulators differ according to HPR? What problems and opportunities do the differing approaches pose in your view?

2. HPR attempt at the end of the chapter to "formulate a principle of acceptable risk" (175) which they set forth on p. 176. Evaluate whether this principle takes into account all the relevant issues introduced earlier in the chapter (and any others you think are relevant).

3. Early in the chapter HPR discuss in 7.4 "Difficulties in Estimating Risk." This section includes a discussion of fault tree analysis, event tree analysis, tight coupling, and complex interactions.

a.  What are fault tree analysis, event tree analysis, tight coupling, and complex interactions?  Have you used any of these techniques/terms in an engineering course or jobs you have had?  If so, be prepared to describe.

b.  Describe the difficulties HPR highlight in estimating risk. Then explain how difficulties in estimating risk might occur in your area(s) of engineering in the light of HPR’s discussion.

4.  Analyze Case 46 Pulverizer in the light of information in Chapter 7 and the ethical theories and methods of analysis we have discussed this semester.