ENGINEERS IN SOCIETY

ENGINEER’S ROLE WITH

RESPECT TO SOCIETY

VAB4042/VBB4043

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INTRODUCTION

• A society is the public community bounded by

functional interdependence with common

characteristics such as national identity, culture

and solidarity

• Society become important during crisis when

individual need help - war, disaster, death etc.

• Society have laws, rules or regulations to

maintain the harmonious living of the member

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INTRODUCTION (CONT.)

• Engineers are member of the society and

serving them as well

• Consequence of engineering failure may have

serious implications to the society – collapse

buildings, bridges etc.

• Engineers have responsibility towards the

society in ensuring that their services are

acceptable by society standard – safety, health,

environment & welfare3

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DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN ENGINEERS

AND TECHNICIANS

• Engineers’ job not always predictable and

require decision making. Their duty include

managerial function

• Technicians’ job quite predictable and routine.

Their work more specific, hands-on and require

skill

• Engineers and technicians work together to

complete technical and non-technical tasks

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EXPECTATIONS AND REALITIES

• Engineering graduates expect their career will

entirely deal with technical-related work such as

design, calculations etc.

• However, with the expertise they have,

engineers also require to work in areas such as

management, procurement, sales or

academician

• Engineers need to apply their communication

skill even in performing their technical task –

monitoring, coordinating, networking etc. 5

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CHARACTERISTICS OF ENGINEERS

• Right attitude in order to become effective

• Technically competent in own discipline in

order to practice

• The basic knowledge acquired at university is

not sufficient to perform specific task hence

engineers need to learn new things

• Rapid changes in science and technology

demand engineers to keep abreast of new

development 6

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CHARACTERISTICS OF ENGINEERS

(CONT.)

• Job scope not limited only to technical matters

• Engineers need management skill to carry out

variety and many task at one time - planning,

budgeting, mentoring, coordinating with other

department etc.

• Ability to work in a team and good

communication skill differentiate the good

engineer

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CHARACTERISTICS OF ENGINEERS

(CONT.)

• Engineers should have leadership quality and

able to motivate their subordinates

• Good decision making resulted from sound

knowledge, technical competency and soft skill

• Engineers need to understand their obligation to

the public

• Therefore, engineers should practice safety at

all times and be sensitive to long-term issues -

environment related matters 8

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COMMUNICATION SKILL

• Communication comprises of verbal and written

forms

• Verbal communication very essential for

engineers in their interaction with superiors,

subordinates, customers, regulators etc.

• Engineers also need to be good at written

communication in the form of official letter,

memo, minutes of meeting etc.

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COMMUNICATION SKILL (CONT.)

• Engineers need to develop an effective

communication skill in order to

– Ensure recipient fully understand the content

of the message

– Influence recipient to approve their proposal

or application

– Portray company/own good image

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COMMUNITY’S PERCEPTION

• Previously, common public perception on

engineering profession

– Do not receive due recognition and status in

society quite low

– Inferior as compared to doctors, lawyers or

account

– Difficult course

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COMMUNITY’S PERCEPTION (CONT.)

– Lack of glamour and prestige

– Almost no TV drama or film on engineers

– Majority of public do not get to see engineers

directly unlike doctors

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COMMUNITY’S PERCEPTION (CONT.)

• Nowadays, with advance technology and better

facilities in communication, engineers are

getting more recognition and being exposed to

the public

• There are engineers hold top position in

government, giant companies or even become

politicians

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COMMUNITY’S PERCEPTION (CONT.)

• Engineering-related disaster also promote

engineering profession but in negative way

• In order to mitigate this negative impact,

engineers need to understand their obligation to

the public by implementing best practices in

safety and engineering all times

• Simultaneously, damage control can be done by

communicating well to the public on issues that

concern them14

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ASSURANCE OF PUBLIC SAFETY, HEALTH

AND WELFARE

• The public is an important entity because they

are

– Taxpayer whose money used to fund

government projects

– Customers who buy the product of engineers

– Citizen whose rights are protected against

any act of negligence of engineers

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ASSURANCE OF PUBLIC SAFETY, HEALTH

AND WELFARE (CONT.)

• The public interest can be presented in terms of

safety, health and welfare arising from

engineering work

• Safety in engineering is related to accidents or

disasters

• Health problem resulted from engineering non-

compliance to Act that protect the public - noise

disturbance at construction site, cement dust

discharge etc.16

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ASSURANCE OF PUBLIC SAFETY, HEALTH

AND WELFARE (CONT.)

• Welfare-related issues normally those affecting

the livelihood of the public - non-provision for

disabled, eye-sore structure etc.

• Responsible engineers would always put public

safety first though costly but justified in

comparing paying compensation and loss of

goodwill in the event of accident

• Engineers have paramount responsibilities and

liabilities in ensuring safety, health and welfare

of the public17

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LAWS RELATED TO PUBLIC SAFETY,

HEALTH AND WELFARE

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• Government introduces laws to protect the

public against problem related to engineering

work

• Most engineering related laws concerning the

public fall under Dept of Occupational Safety

and Health (DOSH), Dept of Environment

(DOE), Ministry of Housing and Local

Government, Ministry of Works and Ministry of

Energy, Green Technology and Water

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LAWS RELATED TO PUBLIC SAFETY,

HEALTH AND WELFARE (CONT.)

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• Laws not meant to cover everything

• Engineers must be aware of all potential risks

that can affect the public – fire, explosion etc.

• Some parts of laws may be inter-related or over-

lap and engineers must be knowledgeable to

distinguish them as well as meeting their

requirements – OSHA 1994 & Electricity

Supply Acts 1990 on accident, fire etc.

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OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH

LAWS

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• Mainly regulated by DOSH

• Responsible for protecting occupational safety,

health and welfare of people at work and public

in various industrial activities

• DOSH under Ministry of Human Resource

• DOSH enforce legislations, conduct research

and technical analysis and promote activities

related to occupational safety, health and

welfare at workplace

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OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH

LAWS (CONT.)

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• Sectors fall under DOSH responsibility –

manufacturing, mining & quarrying,

construction, hotels & restaurants, agriculture,

forestry & fishing, transport, storage &

communication, public services and statutory

authorities, utilities – gas, electricity, water and

sanitary services, finance, insurance, real estate

and business services, wholesale and retail

trades

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OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH

ACT 1994

• Purpose of Act :

– To secure the safety, health and welfare of

persons at work against risk

– To protect persons at a place of work

– To promote an occupational environment for

persons at work to their psychological needs

– To provide the means where legislation may

be replaced system of regulations and

industry COP to improve standard of safety 22

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OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH

ACT 1994 (CONT.)

• Establishment of National Council for

Occupational Safety and Health (NCOSH) to

improve level of awareness of occupational

safety and health at work place

• OSH 1994 defines the general duties of

employers and self-employed persons to ensure

as far as practicable, the safety, health and

welfare at work of their employees

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FACTORIES AND MACHINERY ACT 1967

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• It’s known as Act 139

• Provide the control of factories on matters

related to safety, health and welfare of person

therein, the registration and inspection of

machinery and for matters connected therewith

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PETROLEUM (SAFETY MEASURES) ACT

1984

• Act that consolidate laws relating to safety in

transportation, storage and utilization of

petroleum and to provide for matters related

thereto – mitigating hazard of petroleum

• Other issues such as requirement for license to

handle petroleum, the requirement of proper

labeling and applicable penalties is also written

in the Act intended to protect workers, public

and properties

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ENVIRONMENT LAWS

• Environmental Quality Act (EQA) 1974 mainly

address the pollution problems arising from

industrial discharge and emissions on land,

water and atmosphere as well as emphasizes

public health and safety

• Regulated by Department of Environment

(DOE) to prevent, control and abate pollution

through enforcement of EQA 1974 and its 34

subsidiary legislations

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ENVIRONMENT LAWS (CONT.)

• Principal objective of DOE is to promote,

enhance and sustain sound environmental

management in process of nation building

• DOE continuously monitors the quality of

environment and publishes report on common

indicators – air quality index, noise pollution,

water quality index etc.

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ENERGY SUPPLY LAWS

• Energy Commission Act 2001 undertake

regulatory functions of following legislations

– Electricity Supply Act 1990, Act 174

– Electricity Regulations 1994

– License Supply Regulations 1990

– Gas Supply Regulations 1997

– Gas Supply Act 1993, Act 501

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ENERGY SUPPLY LAWS (CONT.)

• Energy supply legislation regulate

– Matters relating to electricity supply industry,

to protect any persons from danger arising

from supplying electricity and use of

electricity

– Matters relating to supply of gas, to protect

any persons from danger arising from

supplying gas and use of gas

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UNIFORM BUILDING BY-LAWS

• By-laws are laws of local application passed

under the authority of a higher law

• Uniform Building By-Laws (UBBL) 1994

introduced to provide common legislation for

construction and inspection of structures

covering a wide range of technical requirements

related to public safety

• UBBL made by Minister or State Authority and

covers commercial, residential and common

buildings 30

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UNIFORM BUILDING BY-LAWS (CONT.)

• In performing specific engineering service, the

relevant government regulations can exist in

multiple legislations and engineers need to be

aware of and comply with them

• One example of UBBL is providing facilities

for disabled persons in public buildings such as

access to enable disabled persons to get in or

out of and within the buildings by providing

ramps etc.

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THE CIDB ACT AND THE GREEN CARD

• The Construction Industry Development Board

(CIDB) is a statutory body under the Ministry

of Works

• Recognizing construction site as dangerous

place, in 1997 CIDB imposed “Green Card” to

enter or work at construction site

• “Green Card” is issued after attending six hours

of health and safety awareness training by

accredited CIDB trainer32

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FUTURE ENGINEERS

• Vital resources such as water, fuel will be

diminished or insufficient due to population

growth in future

• Engineers should find sustainable resources and

effective way of consuming them

• Example of sustainable resources is renewable

energy

• Environment aspects should be given high

priority to prevent damages33

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GLOBAL CHALLENGES

• A prominent global challenge today is the

Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA)

between countries in facilitating free trade with

minimal limitations of technical barrier

• Example of MRA is ASEAN Free Trade

Agreement (AFTA) signed by 10 ASEAN

countries including Malaysia

• MRA will increase foreign competitors and

engineers and society should beef up their

expertise to survive 34

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GLOBAL CHALLENGES (CONT.)

• “Brain Drain” due to migration of engineers for

better remuneration will affect that country and

the society

• Job migration is a situation where a company

feels no longer economical to carry out job at a

country when similar job can be performed

better at another country with cheaper cost

• Job migration will cause engineers lose jobs or

change job and this will affect the society too35

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

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• Development must ensure that the natural

resources are endurable for future use

• Sustainability requires working defensively and

creating innovative projects - environment-

friendly systems in homes and cars

• Adverse consequences of mistakes done today

in technology and development are suffered by

future generations

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (CONT.)

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• The responsibility of protecting the environment

while gaining economic benefits goes back to

the society as a whole

• Engineers play an important role towards

introduction or improvement of government

policies related to sustainable development

• Engineers must create and use technologies and

management tools to minimize and counter

negative impact from development

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THE CHANGING SOCIETY

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• Engineers must be prepared to face rapid

changes in society

• Engineers must be knowledgeable, brave and

confident in initiating change

• As member of society engineers should provide

solution to problems