Ethics Test 3 Review

Human-centered

only humans have inherent worth and all other creatures have value only as means to promoting human interests

sentient-centered

all conscious animals have inherent worth

biocentric

all living organisms have inherent worth

ecocentric

all ecosystems have inherent worth

anthropocenic

invites us to critically examine the role of human influence on global environmental challenges such as climate change.

sustaniable development

development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

life cycle assessment (LCA)

one of the methods used by engineers to assess the impact of technology on the environment. Estimates emissions that are generated throughout the life cycle of a product.

disitlling and applying knowledge

scientific inquiry → distilled knowledge → engineering applications

safety

a thing is safe if, were its risks fully known, those risks would be judged acceptable by a reasonable person in light of their settled value principles. thought in terms of degrees and comparisions.

risk

the potential that something unwanted and harmful may occur.

unwanted occurences

bodily harm or loss of life, economic loss, environmental degradation

acceptability of risk

voluntarism and control, effect of information, job-related risks, magnitude and proximity, future risk, cross-cultural risk perception, personal risk.

voluntarism and control

people are usually more willing to be the subjects of their own experiments (social or not) than of someone else’s.

effect of information

the manner in which information necessary for decision-making is presented can greatly influence how risks are perceived.

job-related risks

if the risks are job-related or other pressures exist that can cause people to be aware of risks or to overlook risks.

magnitude and proximity

it implies whether the effects of a risky activity or situation are immediately noticeable or are close at hand; and whether the potential victims are identifiable beforehand.

future risk

out of sight, out of mind, future predictions are not accurate, countermeasure will be found in time

cross-cultural risk perception

cultural factors including race, gender, socioeconomic class, and nationality can affect the ways in which risks are perceived.

personal risk

individuals are more ready to assume voluntary risks than they are involuntary risks, or activities over which they have no control, even when the voluntary risks are 1000 times more likely to produce a fatality than the involuntary ones.

Risk and Uncertainty in Design

Primary cost of the product, secondary costs, total cost, minimum total cost, highest acceptable risk

safety management systems (SMS)

provides an organization with a formal approach to managing safety and risk and assuring the effectiveness of safety risk controls.

four pillars of SMS

safety policy, safety risk management (SRM), safety assurance, safety promotion.

Safety Policy

establishes senior management’s commitment and defines the methods, processes, and the organizational structure neededS

Safety Risk Management (SRM)

determines the need for, and adequacy of, risk controls based on the assessment of acceptable risk. A formal SRM process is composed of a process to identify the hazards, to assess and analyze the risk (severity and probability), and to control the risk (mitigation).

Under SRM

Risk Hazard Analysis (RHA), Test Hazard Analysis (THA), Failure Modes, Effects, and Critically Assessment (FMECA), Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), Verification and Validation (V&V)

Safety Assurance

Establishes a system that evaluates the continued effectiveness of the risk control strategies and ensures compliance with SMS requirements, policies, orders, and standards

safety promotion

established the mean for creating a positive safety culture, Training, safety communication and awareness, and compiling lessons learned.

Product out “in the Wild”

design Safe Exits or Defense in Depth

Safe Exits

assure that when a product fails, it will fail safely, it can be abandoned safely, or the user can safely escape the product safely.

Defense in Depth

apply multiple layers of safety, such that any single failure does not result in injury/death of the used, or multiple layers have to be intentionally breached to result in a bad outcome.

Tort Law

a method by which an injured person (plaintiff) can attempt to recover damages from the person who committed the tort (tortfeasor).

three branches of tort law

intentional, negligent, strict liability

Warranties

guarantees from sellers or manufacturers assuring product level of quality, reliability, and safety when used as intended.

Types of Warranties

Express, Implied, Warranty of Merchantability, Warranty of Fitness

Intentional Tort

action was intentional, but the harm does not have to be intended.

negligent torts

unintentional breach of a legal standard of care which proximately and foreseeably caused harm.

strict liability

for product liability cases, a product caused harm while being used in an intended and reasonably foreseeable manner because it was defective when it left the manufacturer.

express

written or verbal clauses spell out what is/is not covered

implied

automatic legal protections such as warranty of merchantability or fitness.

warranty of merchantabilty

the airplane is implied to fly safely

warranty of fitness

the airplane was implied to fit the requirements of the purchaser

contract

a legally binding agreement between parties.

core elements of a valid contract

offer, acceptance, consideration (exchange of value/money), the parties involved have the legality capacity to engage into a contract

product liability lawsuit

involves simple liability, warranty, and contract law aspects.

discovery and production of documents

prior knowledge of the defects, admission of liability, concealment of known defects, “bad” attitude. (eMails and text messages are admissible).

The (Monetary) Value of a Human Life

the economic or financial measurements used to assign a dollar figure to a person’s life or survival.

Risk Hazard Analysis and Test Hazard Analysis

identify the risks, severities, and probabilities associated with a hazard.

Failure Modes and Effect Analysis (FMEA)

systematically analyzes postulated component failures and identify the resultant effects on system operations.

Fault Tree Analysis (FTA)

uses a “top down” approach, beginning with a catastrophic system failure, known as “top event.” Engineers work backward from the top event to determine its root causes using logic diagrams. These diagrams map the combination of component failures, human errors. and environmental events that must occur for the top event to happen.

Verification and Validation (VnV)

a process where an article is verified to be correctly created and validated to meet the requirements of the customer.

Safety Score

severity x probability

What is NOT a core element of a valid contract?

countersignature