PROTECTING THE PUBLIC AND THE ENVIRONMENT

– A RESPONSIBILITY OF CANADIAN PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS –

The profession of engineering in Canada faces a number of issues: an increased public concern for health, safety and the environment, the expanding roles filled by engineers coupled with increased interaction with other professions and occupations, a decrease in professional engineering licensing (particularly in the rapidly-expanding computer and biology related disciplines) and questions from employee engineers regarding the value of professional registration.

In view of these concerns, the Canadian Academy of Engineering undertook a study of areas where the engineering profession could evolve to enhance its stature and its service to the public.  Accepting without elaboration the many positive contributions and accomplishments of engineering, the study report focuses on the profession itself.  It concludes that most of these concerns can best be addressed by enhancing the basic reason for existence of a licensed profession of engineering, that of ensuring that the benefits of engineering activity are provided with adequate measures for protecting the health, safety and well-being of the public and the safeguarding of the environment.

This report has been produced primarily to stimulate discussion and action by engineers in Canada and, particularly, by the responsible councils and committees of their provincial and territorial Associations of Professional Engineers/Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec and their coordinating body, the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers. 

The report recommends that a clause on acceptance of responsibility be included in the legal definition of the practice of engineering and that employers assign responsibility to an echelon of qualified professional engineers on any engineering-related project which involves potential risk to health, safety or the environment, whether the products or services are provided directly to the public or through the marketplace.  Such assignment should be required for companies providing services where failure can have a major impact on life and property.  Other companies with potential for adverse impact should be encouraged to adopt a voluntary approach to assignment of responsibility.

Individual employee engineers are encouraged to exercise voluntarily their duty to the public by anticipating the impact of their work and alerting their employers to the potential for adverse impact.  In case this leads to an unresolved conflict between the employee and the employer, it is recommended that the responsibility for resolution be transferred to the Association, thus obviating any occasion for individual “whistle blowing”.

To accommodate the increased interaction of professional engineers with team members from other professions and disciplines, it is recommended that cooperation agreements be negotiated with the appropriate bodies, making adequate provision for engineers to carry out their special responsibility in the protection of the public.

Engineering as a profession in Canada is a world leader in its regulation, its self governance and the competence of its members. The proposals and recommendations of this report are directed at enhancing still further the stature, relevance, public service and perception of the profession, an enhancement that can be best achieved by accepting more fully the special responsibility of engineers to the public in matters of safety, health and environment.

In making these recommendations the Canadian Academy of Engineering recognizes that many of these issues have been under discussion in the Associations and in the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers. It is hoped that these views of an external and independent body will serve to promote discussion and facilitate action.  The Academy is willing to assist in any way that is considered appropriate.

The full report may be downloaded as a .pdf file

RECOMMENDATIONS

A         To clarify the guardian role of the profession of engineering for the public and for engineers, the Academy recommends :

That the role of professional engineers as protectors of the health and safety of the public and as guardians of the environment be given paramount attention in the evolution of the engineering profession in Canada.  [1]

That the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers (CCPE) and the provincial/territorial Associations give wide publicity to the commitment made by their professional engineering members in their Code of Ethics to the welfare of the public. [2]

B         To establish uniform legislation of the engineering profession adequate for the protection of the public, the Academy recommends:

That the Associations in cooperation through CCPE take action to establish a standard legal definition of the practice of engineering, that this definition include the safeguarded areas of the CCPE definition and that it incorporate a specific statement on the acceptance of responsibility. [3] 

That legislation be clarified, where necessary, to ensure that responsibility for engineering work deemed to be important to the health and safety of the public is reserved for professional engineers whether or not the work is carried out directly for a public client. [4] 

C         To implement the extended public protection role of professional engineers employed in industry, the Academy recommends: 

            That the Associations encourage corporations operating under a certificate or permit to practice to assign responsibility for engineering-related work to an echelon of professional engineers having an appropriate range of competence. [5] 

That the Associations take action to ensure that assignment of specific responsibility for engineering work to an echelon of professional engineers having appropriate competence is a requirement for those corporations providing engineering related products and services which are judged to be critical to the health and safety of the public and to the control of environmental impact. [6] 

That the Associations, coordinated through CCPE, launch a campaign to demonstrate to engineering-related companies the advantages of voluntary compliance with legislation related to the protection of the public, through assignment of responsibility to professional engineers. [7] 

That the Associations encourage professional engineers employed in industry  to accept voluntarily personal responsibility to the public for predicting the impact of their engineering activities and informing their employers of potential risks. [8] 

That the Associations encourage professional engineers individually or collectively to negotiate employment agreements or contracts with their employers, which make adequate provision for their responsibility to the public. [9] 

That the Associations establish workable processes of mediation and intervention, to support professional engineers who are in dispute with their employers on matters relating to responsibility for public welfare, and that the Associations assume ultimate responsibility for public protection as necessary. [10]

D         To ensure and enhance the protection of the public in shared areas the Academy recommends: 

That the Associations, coordinated through CCPE, negotiate appropriate cooperative arrangements for shared jurisdiction in areas of the public interest, which are common to two or more licensed professions. [11] 

That, in the public interest, the Associations take action to ensure that professional engineers take a leading position in areas of engineering-related work, which has health, safety or environmental impact, and which is shared with members of non-regulated or non-licensed bodies. [12]