Design Engineers’ Responses to Safety Situations

Abstract

How a consulting design civil engineer would respond to two site safety situations would depend on the decision criterion the engineer chooses. One situation is observing a site condition that poses a hazard to construction workers. A second situation is choosing during the design process between a traditional component and one that is more expensive but inherently less risky for the construction workers. Potential decision criteria determining the engineer’s responses to these situations include maximizing the firm’s profits, complying with the firm’s contract with the client, complying with federal safety standards, complying with ASCE’s policy on construction site safety, and complying with ASCE’s Code of Ethics. The paper also discusses how the responses to these situations would be slightly different for an engineering manager and if the engineer was part of a design-build team. The results of this theoretical analysis suggest that engineering firms should establish site safety-related policies and that changes may be warranted in ASCE’s Code of Ethics and the federal safety standards.