25.1. Ethics

Whenever chemical engineers develop products, design processes and equipment, manage process operations, communicate with other engineers and non-engineers, develop markets and sell products, lead other engineers, interact with clients, represent their firms to the government or to the public—in short, whenever chemical engineers do anything that impacts the lives of anyone—their choices of action are based on ethics. Even when faced with two different equations, one equation is selected, based in part on ethical values. Does the less precise equation include a safety factor that lowers the risk to employer, employees, or the public? Should more time be spend doing more rigorous calculations, costing the firm more money but providing a bet....