Response to case study scenario 1

Regardless of whether I was the most junior employee in the company I would not ignore a problem of such magnitude that it could cause grave danger and/or a serious threat to life. My reason for taking this approach is one of an ethical nature. As my superior told me to ignore the problem I would go to the head of the company and make it known that I had been told to ignore what I would consider to be a serious breach in health and safety and that I was not happy to just ignore the problem. The next stage in the process after reporting to my manager would be to start a product recall for the entire batch of 200 units that were delivered. This would be done by first contacting the consumer/company who bought the product and explaining the situation fully to them and the ramifications of the three faulty units and the potential hazard they can cause. In the short term the company would make a financial loss on the product, this is due to product recall and redistribution of the product with no faulty units in the batch. This financial loss to the manufacturer would be relatively small compared to the legal and financial costs that would be incurred should anything serious arise from distribution of the faulty product causing damage to life and/or property. The company distributing the product would also be held liable in the courts should any damage to property and/or life occur if they knowingly distributed faulty units. The product recall would more than likely cause disruption to the "important client" but I’m positive that they would much rather have to cope with a slight delay on the product than have to deal with the possibility of serious fire damage. The possible consequences to me as the junior engineer would be relatively small if any as a response to my actions as I believe I have acted ethically and morally correct to both myself and on behalf of the company I am working for.
I have had personal experience with health and safety and also moral and ethical related issues when dealing with my job as an engineer in the royal navy. With working on a submarine safety to yourself and to the people who work for you and around you is paramount so it would be bad practice to accept a faulty product knowing that it had the potential to cause serious danger to human life. When a faulty unit is received it is returned to the manufacturer immediately stating that it is unfit for purpose and a new unit is to be sent out. This can be of a great inconvenience when you are working to a tight time schedule and can also have effects on the overall budget of the project but at the end of the day human life is more important and worth protecting.
In conclusion it is down to each individual how they respond to a situation that involves making a decision. This decision will be processed based around your own ethical and moral standings which will develop through life and different situations you encounter. But I believe that everyone has the right to question and should not be scared to go up the tree to their superiors if they disagree with a decision or an order that they have received.