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Engineering code of conduct
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CatalinaWOW:
Seems like there needs to be a lot more information to really answer this question.  And it can't really be totally answered.

1.  Just about any circuit, even a simple LED blinker can result in a hazard under some extreme conditions (epileptic user, areas where blinker could be confused with safety markers or guidance flags for examples).  The designer of the circuit cannot be responsible for all possible applications of a design.  And certifications for those worst case applications are not required for every design.

2.  Liability for most hazardous applications are dealt with with a variety of "due diligence" requirements.  Use of or supervision by a licensed engineer is one form of such due diligence.  Compliance with applicable codes is another.  Without knowing more about the "electrical design of a box" and "could become a standard applied over and over" there is no way to know if an established due diligence procedure exists for the application.  There is a very real chance that no one in the world is "qualified".  Or that anyone is if it conforms to a published standard.

3.  My view of engineering ethics would require me to avoid the job if I knew that hazards were involved, if I knew that I didn't understand appropriate mitigation of those hazards, and that I could not learn them and if it was impossible to document the limitations of "due diligence" resulting from my performance of the task. 

4.  Avoiding the job doesn't really get you off the hook.  Lets say you do avoid the job.  You even convince your company to avoid it.  Does your ethical standard require you to go out and assure that no other company takes it on without appropriate expertise?  Without having said expertise how can you determine is someone else does not have it?  Can you define what is missing, or what is necessary?
Berni:
This is indeed a bit of a sticky situation.

My best advice is to try and make that manager see how big of a deal this is. Get an email going between a few other engineer coworkers about what they think of this (Making it clear to them what this is about beforehand) and then involve the manager on the recipient list. That way there are multiple people backing up his opinion that it is a bad idea and there is a email paper trail that could be useful later on (If this thing ends up escalating and you need to prove to someone else what happened such as higher up management or HR or i sure hope not court). Often management would also want a one on one meeting to discuss such pressing issues, in that case you have nobody to back you up, so id recommend recording such meetings on your phone.

My guess is that after this they would have the engineer do it anyway but also make the engineer find someone who is qualified to check the plans and sign them off (with the management agreeing to pay for that now)

Management can be stubborn sometimes. For non safety critical stupidities i learned its the best to just play is pacifist and do whatever they want, but make sure i have a paper trail for the command to do so and my argument against it. If shit hits the fan they will usually say they never told me to do that, to what i reply with a forward of that email.
james_s:
I'd want to know much more detailed information about the device in question and the environment in which it was to be used before I made a decision. I wouldn't automatically shy away from it, I mean several years ago I designed, developed a product that works with 6.6A high voltage series streetlighting systems that were once common all over the US. I had no experience developing such products but neither did anyone else who hadn't retired or died years if not decades ago. In the end my hand made prototypes ran in the field in a major US city for over a year before they were replaced with production units. We sold several hundred of the things to cities, oil refineries, military bases and other installations all over the country and most are still in use, not hugely profitable given the small quantity but it was a fun and very educational project and I'd do it again.

The series regulators are anywhere from 5 to 50kVA. A 50kVA 6.6A regulator is a somewhat terrifying device, if you break the circuit while it's live the angry buzzing arc can be drawn out well over a foot. There used to be one other company making competing products and theirs had a reputation for catching fire, to this date none of ours ever have. There are risks in everything, life is a series of calculated risks and in each case you have to weigh the risk vs the potential reward and decide for yourself if it's something you want to jump into. Make sure you find out ahead of time exactly who the responsibility lands on if something goes wrong.
Psi:

--- Quote from: engrguy42 on June 02, 2020, 11:49:53 pm ---Geez, guys, don't you think you're going a bit overboard?   :-DD

Signing petitions??? Contacting lawyers?? Documenting everything??

Don't you think you should see if there's a problem first?

--- End quote ---

Documenting everything is never going overboard :)
Warhawk:
I personally avoid not only things that are illegal but also immoral. From time to time there's a conflict between these two and I value moral behavior more over legal bindings. First, it is great that you came here for an opinion. This shows your high moral standards.  :-+

Most conflicts I've ever been part of were just miscommunication and lack of willingness to understand. Start there. What if this is a critical project for the company and without it they would lay off five people? You may not know. What would you do if this is the case?

* Create a risk assessment. What can happen if the wiring is incorrect, uses improper components or techniques. Be strictly technical.
* Identify what are professional requirements for getting this job done. Any government certifications needed? I bet there are electricians internet forums in you home country.
* Identify who would be personally responsible for an incident. Point a finger at your boss.
* This can be just a single A4 page. Make your manager signing it or send this to him by post mail with delivery confirmation.**
* No job is worth waking up every day knowing that there is a hazardous device you deployed.
** I probably watch Air Crash Investigations (Mayday) TV show too much. ::)
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