Response to case study scenario 1

I will not ignore this problem. As a junior engineer I would immediately challenge the supervisor demanding that something should be done about this safety critical issue, if they were to refuse an audience then I would elevate the issue via the management hierarchy. However I would also listen to their side of the argument which would more than likely be along the lines of… “3 drives from a batch of 200 means that there would be a 1.5% chance of receiving/purchasing a faulty product and most modern equipment can handle power surges which would most likely be the cause of a fire risk. If a recall were to be carried out it would be an unknown expense and could upset shareholders or company reputation if a ‘dangerous risk’ was made public.”

Upon hearing the supervisor’s argument, if any, I would retaliate with my own argument by first quoting the IEEE and Royal Academy of Engineering code of conduct;

“We agree to accept responsibility in making decisions consistent with the safety, health and the welfare of the public, and to disclose promptly factors that may endanger the public or the environment” – IEEE

I would show the supervisor the case of laptop batteries manufactured by Sony who provided them to Dell and Apple, a simple engineering fault caused the batteries to short circuit and overheat causing combustion and in some severe cases even an explosion. Dell knew about this problem way before it issued a recall on the 21st June 2006 (the first reported case went back as far as 2003!). The recall hit worldwide news and its shares dropped by over 2%, not only that but due to an investigation they were almost removed from the Nasdaq Stock Market in the second quarter of 2006 which would have crippled the company financially. The recall of 4.1 million Dell batteries cost £170 million – a problem they could have resolved nearly three years before! – Possibly saving millions of pounds and their reputation. Apple somehow managed to keep their recall away from national TV quiet recalling 1.8 million batteries and only a few newspapers reported the recall the cost of which was never made public. (source used: Times Newspaper online)

After presenting this information I would recommend a recall now, as from the research above it clearly shows that the longer you leave a problem the more costly it is for the business and its affiliates. I would also recommend another test to be carried out on the product which would be the supervisors duty to organise, this way I can see if there will be a continuing issue if the previously supplied items were recalled to prevent the ‘Sony battery problem’ from becoming my problem; as another recall would be the last of the company’s worries if a consumer were to be injured when operating such device. The legal backlash could be very costly both financially and to the company’s reputation especially as one batch went to a very important client.

I would not want to be held responsible for an injury that could have been prevented by me; and I certainly would not want to work for a company that is not willing to do everything to protect its investors and consumers. I may lose my job for going over my supervisors head but it would be a price well paid to keep my morals upstanding and would also be following all the relevant codes of conduct that I agree to as an engineer. As i have no personal experience i have to follow my morals and use previous examples plus any relevant research to enforce the choice/action that followed.