INNOVATION September-October 2012

This can be achieved through principled leadership, effective communication and ac- tions that put ethics in practice. v Alison L Dempsey PhD is a legal profes- sional specialising in the area of gover- nance, ethics, and accountability. She is working with APEGBC to deliver the Ethics in Practice project.

rather than trying to force behaviour by imposing rigid rules. The key to providing effective guidance is combining ongoing reinforcement of the stan- dards that are expected of people with develop- ing and providing a range of accessible and practical tools and resources that can be readily integrated into everyday professional practice. It is the same whether the standards relate to the application of scientific principles and technical criteria or the observance of prin- ciples of good conduct and ethics. In this regard, as with the technical knowledge and skills required for profes- sional practice, APEGBC is committed to providing its members and licensees with training, support and practical resources relating to ethical conduct and the be- haviour and standards that are expected both generally, and in the context of the practice of professional engineering and geoscience and compliance with the APEGBC Code of Ethics, specifically. The new Ethics in Practice initiative starting this fall and being rolled out over the next 12 months will include enhanced eth- ics resources to supplement the current Guidelines to the Code of Ethics, tools for integrating best practices, and continuing professional development opportunities specifically focusing on ethical issues and strategies for dealing with ethical chal- lenges that arise in professional practice. APEGBC respects the fact that its members and licensees are diverse and apply their engineering and geoscience knowledge, skills and experience in a range of different contexts. That being said, the standards of professional conduct, integrity and ethical practice set out in the APEGBC Code of Ethics establish fundamental principles of conduct that every profes- sional must adhere to and strive to uphold regardless of where, for whom or on what manner of engagement they are working. Maintaining and observing the higher standards of ethical conduct is critical to the engineering and geoscience profes- sions—enhancing their reputation for tech- nical skill and expertise, and protecting the trust placed in their integrity. It is true that there will always be a few people who, knowing full well what they should be do- ing, bend or break the rules or compromise the standards of professional practice. It is the responsibility of the professions and their individual members and licensees to see that these few do not damage or taint the hard-earned reputation of the many.

of conflicting expectations and competing priorities, the pressures of time and cost, the balancing of short term over longer term con- siderations and, ultimately, their resolution relies on an exercise of judgment. However, when it comes to matters affect- ing the physical environment, that exercise of judgment is often entrusted to profession- ally qualified engineers and geoscientists, on whom clients, customers, fellow profes- sionals and members of the public rely to behave straightforwardly, honestly, with the requisite scientific and technical knowledge and the demonstrated experience, integrity and judgment needed to place human health and safety and the protection of the natural environment above all else. 14(a) … Members and licensees shall act at all times with fairness, courtesy and good faith to their associates, employers, employees and clients, and with fidelity to the public needs. They shall uphold the values of truth, honesty and trustworthiness and safeguard human life and welfare and the environment. -APEGBC Code of Ethics More often than not, people want to get it right and to do what is expected of them. The difference between whether they are successful or not may be a matter of the type of guidance available on what is, and is not, appropriate and acceptable. The danger of an over-focus on control and imposing strict rules is that it can lead to individuals being ill equipped to deal with complex, unfamiliar situations for which no current rules exist, or unable or unwilling to take individual responsibility, or in the ex- treme mistakenly assuming that the absence of specific rules equates to an unfettered licence to operate. Furthermore, the qualities critical to ethical conduct—fairness, good conscience, integrity, trustworthiness—cannot be legislat- ed or imposed. With proper guidance, however, individu- als are better equipped to make decisions and to choose to behave in alignment with standards and expectations and to have con- fidence in their choices and their understand- ing of what they should be doing. These in turn strengthen confidence and resolve to “do the right thing” in the face of pressure to do something that they know is inappropriate, unethical or worse. Professional bodies therefore require their members to observe the highest stan- dards of professional conduct and ethical behaviour in all their activities by establish- ing codes of conduct and ethics that state principles intended to guide behaviour

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