Case in which an engineer ought to tell a worker about risks
Suppose an engineer is hired by a printed circuit boards manufacturer to do a process layout design. Whilst doing the job she discovered epoxy in the fiber glass layer in which the manufacturer has had workers manually punch holes. She sought information from the Environmental and Safety Department and found out the serious health risks involved in being exposed to this epoxy. Should the engineer tell the operator about the risk she had been running for the last 10 years?
In my response I discuss the responsibility and the actions that should be undertaken by this engineer to enhance safety in this workplace.
In this case the engineer should definitely tell the operator about the risk she had been running for the last ten years. First, she should fully inform the manufacturer of the information she had gathered from the Material Safety Data Sheet from the Environmental and Safety Department on the inner layer material containing epoxy. More importantly, she should fully inform her of the health risks involved when exposed to epoxy such that it may cause respiratory problems and even more serious health problem like cancer when it is breathed into the lungs. This will immediately alert the manufacturer and co-workers of the danger of epoxy. This will bring their attention into preventing these risks from occurring by discarding the epoxy from the work place. The manufacturers should also be consulting with a health practitioner or doctor immediately for a thorough examination if they have been affected. This way they could seek treatment if needed, which may even save their lives. What other steps, if any, should she take now? I think the next step she should take now is to alert the other branches of this manufacturing company (if there is any) about the epoxy that she had recently discovered. Inform them of the risks involved or advice them to refer to Environmental and Safety Department for more information and further aid. Perhaps, replace the epoxy with a material that is safe for the environment and for the workers. What is the engineer’s responsibility? The engineer’s responsibility is to ensure that the work environment is safe at all times, for her and those in the work place. This should always be her first priority. In doing so, as explained above, should create awareness of the problem (exposure to epoxy) and to do something about it.
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