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In an ideal world, it would be easy for all contracted disposal companies to “conduct themselves honorably, responsibly, ethically, and lawfully so as to enhance the honor, reputation, and usefulness of the profession,” as outlined in the code of ethics by the National Society of Professional Engineers. Unfortunately, we live in an imperfect world where our judgment is clouded by both a physical and psychological need to not only survives, but also to thrive. In most cases, the means to this success is money.
First I think we should first take a kick at what medical waste disposal is. Medical waste disposal is a pressing issue in the field of biomedical engineering. Hospitals and research facilities produce an immense amount of medical waste every ay. While doctors are doing their best to help patients, improper medical waste disposal can make these same patients become ill by contamination of the water supply and the release of toxic fumes. Typically, medical waste is put into a landfill or incinerated.
The most widely used and cost efficient method is incineration. Incineration, however, can release harmful fumes into the environment. Channel has a few ethical options but we will only focus on one which is weightlessness; below we describe what weightlessness is. What is weightlessness? Weightlessness”, “raising concerns” and “speaking up” are all phrases which describe disclosing information to an employer or where appropriate a regulator, police or the media about malpractice, wrong doing or a risk to safety. Why does weightlessness matter?
We need to ensure that all workers are able to raise concerns about such issues early and effectively, as it is in everyone’s interests that suspected malpractice or wrongdoing is dealt with properly. Speaking up promptly can make the difference between a disaster averted and long term damage to business and the wider public. Channel should not mix up loyalty with weightlessness and doing the right thing which is ultimately lead the business down the path of righteousness and fairness. Should Channel be concerned about legal ramifications?
Do weightlessness have legal protection? Almost all workers with a UK employment contract (save the armed forces, intelligence officers, volunteers and the self-employed) are protected by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1 998 (PAID). PAID provides workers in the UK with a safe alternative to silence. It enables workers to raise concerns about Copyright AT. AT is a registered charity. No. 1 050724. Wrongdoing responsibly. PAID protects workers who raise a concern about wrongdoing internally and, in most cases, with a regulator.
It also protects workers who make wider disclosures where there is a valid reason to go wider, and the particular disclosure is reasonable. The purpose of Pita’s protection is for a concern to be raised so that it can be addressed, and any wrongdoing corrected. If the sole or main reason a worker blows the whistle is to pursue a personal vendetta (or has some other ulterior motive) , which is defined as “bad faith” then this protection may well be lost.. What are the reasonable limits on loyalty to one’s employers?
Whistle- blowing would appear to involve a conflict between employee loyalty and protection Of public interest. Several business ethicists have, however, argued that this conflict is indeed merely apparent. According to the central argument to that effect, when the nature of employee loyalty is understood correctly, it becomes clear that whistle-blowing does not threaten employees’ loyalty to their employer. This is because blowing the whistle about one’s employed s wrongdoing and being loyal to them serves the same goal, the oral good of the employer.
Today’s complex and decentralized organization gives rise to organizational needs for both loyalty and institutionalized whistle blowing. However, ethicists see a contradiction between both needs. This means that the object of loyalty is not the physicality of an organization, but its corpus Of explicit mission statement, goals, value statement and code Of conduct. An implication is that organizations are – as their side of the duty of loyalty – obliged to institutionalize whistle blowing.