Response to case study scenario 1

This situation has the potential to cause great financial and legal problems to the company, and injury or possibly even death to a consumer. If the 3 failed tests were due to a less significant fault in the flash drives then the devices could be sold without issue, and then replaced if they stop working. However since the failures have the potential to cause a fire the situation must be treated far more seriously.

This in some ways is not unlike a problem I came across in my previous job. This involved making sure new LCD televisions had a minimum number of dead pixels, but allowing for a tolerance so that more televisions would meet the required display class. The problem occurred when a batch of televisions below the minimum display class were added to a shipment by mistake. Fortunately this was discovered before the delivery was made, and therefore the only loss to the company was the time taken to replace the faulty batch of televisions with the correct batch.

I have come to the decision that both ethically and legally it would be wrong to allow these USB drives to be used, knowing the outcome that could occur. To ensure this I shall do all that I can to convince both my supervisor and upper management of the seriousness of the situation, and of the costs that could ensue from not taking immediate action to rectify the problem.

In reporting this, other consequences could arise. These include; disciplinary action taken against my supervisor, as ignoring a problem this serious is completely unethical, and against the codes of conduct of most engineering organisations*; if the management decide not to take my advice then there could be legal and financial issues in the future, such as law suits from customers affected by the faulty drives.

In my opinion the best and most ethical course of action for all involved would be to recall all the USB drives immediately. If any drives have been sold already then they would need to be replaced with new drives that have been checked for safety, or a refund would need to be given.

Once recalled the USB drives could then be checked, if possible, to determine which 3 are the faulty drives. If this is successful it would save the company money as the other drives could then be re-used. However if this is not possible the whole batch of drives would be unsafe for anyone to use, and would need to be destroyed at cost to the company.

Another reason why action must be taken to recall these drives is to prevent damaging the reputation of the company, and that of the client who sells the drives. I believe this is the only ethical solution to this situation, and that steps should be taken to prevent similar problems in the future.



*IEEE Codes of Ethics:
“To accept responsibility in making decisions consistent with the safety, health and welfare of the public, and to disclose promptly factors that might endanger the public or the environment”

“To assist colleagues and co-workers in their professional development and to support them in following this code of ethics.”

*The Royal Academy of Engineering:
“Professional Engineers should be alert to the ways in which their work might affect others and duly respect the rights and reputations of other parties.”