Blumenthal, Casey Introduce Hide No Harm Act

Actually, I think Professional Engineers (like the certification) ARE held to standards where this sort of thing must be reported, blah blah. But honestly, if it's reported and you're told STFU we'll handle it, what are you supposed to do? You can't be legally compelled to commit career suicide unless it's far more cut and dried than this.

@S2k Chris If you can go to your boss and say: "Look, you and I could both do time for this" then you may find a more receptive audience than usual.

@S2k Chris PEs are non existent outside of building and structure design. In my experience. Which is over a decade of design and validation. I haven't known one PE. It's simply not a req for this work. I believe the company is assuming the liability and not the individual. If that's something the bureaucrats want to break down, then welcome to the world of insurance and much higher engineering wages.

@Hogie roll Granted, but the point is that the idea of engineers being held liable for things they work on or sign off on is not ridiculous, it does exist.

@S2k Chris Hey Chris, I dug up this comment I wrote from when GM placed some engineers on paid leave in April. Note, this is regarding Canadian engineers. "To become a Professional Engineer, one must have a bachelors level degree in engineering from an accredited educational instituion, and then mentor under a P.Eng for 4 years. Once registered as a professional, the engineer in question must both pursue continuing education, but most importantly NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR SOMETHING FOR WHICH THEY ARE NOT QUALIFIED. Since the associations are administrated by professional engineers, they rigorously investigate every complaint or perceived infraction. We are allowed to regulate ourselves, so it is taken extremely seriously lest that privilege is taken away. An engineer regulated in Canada’s first duty of care is to public safety. This is why I mention that sometimes we might have to be willing to have a pair and leave a job where the Code of Ethics of the profession are being compromised. I can’t speak for anyone else but I take it pretty seriously. I am extremely cognizant of the consequences of mistakes I might make." You are absolutely right, at least in my case, anything that bears my professional seal and signature, is my responsibility. And, sometimes an engineer sort of HAS to ruin their own current career path to protect the integrity of the profession. I consider myself lucky that my bosses are also P. Eng., so I have never had to worry about that. Disclosure, I am a professional structural engineer.

@Hogie roll We all want buildings that stand up, sewers that don't back up, roads that don't have dodgy bridges, dangerous curves and poor lines of sight, etc. PEs who stamp off on these projects have a degree of liability that if applied to many other professions would give those professionals the willies. I believe in Roman times, a bridge or aqueduct builder would guarantee his design, and supervision of the work, by standing under the keystone when the supports were removed. Now there is some liability. Most products don't require PE stamps and there is a carve out for engineers who work for manufacturers outside infrastructure as well. There are also professional codes and standards that apply to some critical areas that also go beyond proscriptive design. The ASME BPVP Code is one such.