MEPX
Chapter 12 of 12All chapters
  1. 1What engineers do
  2. 2The design process
  3. 3Forces and loads
  4. 4Stress, strain and materials
  5. 5Structures
  6. 6Mechanisms
  7. 7Electrical basics
  8. 8Energy in machines
  9. 9Manufacturing and tolerances
  10. 10Safety factors and failure
  11. 11Testing and standards
  12. 12Responsibility

Chapter 12 of 12

Responsibility

Signing your name to it.

The duty

Engineering decisions carry consequences for people who never see them. Professional codes put public safety above the interests of the client and the employer, in that order.

  • Raising a concern early is cheap. Raising it after the launch is not.
  • Most engineering disasters were foreseen by someone who was overruled.

Documentation

Calculations, assumptions and decisions belong in writing, dated. It protects the public, the project and the engineer, and it is the difference between a profession and a hobby.