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By: rorschach
Date: 10/30/01 1:36:53 PM
# Replies: 7
You are a drafter at a company that makes equipment that handles high pressure. you discover a flawed design in a product that is overdue and a major order is pending that may make or break the company financially. If the flawed device fails people will get hurt. If you disclose the flaw, you may or may not be able to get anyone of any importance to listen to you. (after all, you are merely a drafter, not a engineer with years of experience, forget that nothing the enginer has ever worked on worked until someone else came around and fixed it, or that you have done more engineering than he has in the last three years...) You may instead be labeled a trouble maker and will catch the next pink slip, OR you may be able to get someone to listen and avoid a tragedy. The sale then may or may not go through depending on how the marketing people massage the customer. If you keep your mouth shut, your company will almost certainly get the order but at some point, possibly three or four years after the fact, maybe much sooner, the product will fail. the liability lawyers will be crawling all over themselves to take the case, the company will probably fold to avoid the massive judgements involved but you may be working elsewhere by then.
what would YOU do?
Response #1
By: Roxanne
Date: 10/30/01 2:54:04 PM
Take real good notes and document everything. Wait for the catastrophic failure, then write an expose, do a book tour, sell the movie rights, and get rich!
What? That's not the right answer?
Response #2
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 10/30/01 8:10:17 PM
Report the flaw to higher-ups. If the design makes it through, report the flaw to the media. Get a degree in a related field and hope to find work eventually.
Response #3
By: WitchHazel
Date: 10/30/01 8:39:35 PM
Agree with Homer, but want to add that you can always report the flaw to the higher-ups under someone else's name (someone you DON'T like). ;-)
Response #4
By: bob
Date: 10/31/01 9:47:10 AM
pehaps it is a rarity, but there may be an open minded engineer type there who you can talk to. voice your concerns, maybe they can help you convince the others.
if the problem will not develope for another 3-4 years, then perhaps the sale can go through and they can revamp it in the field before tragedy strikes.
but, the bottom line is, i would have to report it, i would sleep better unemployed.
Response #5
By: WitchHazel
Date: 10/31/01 1:37:37 PM
So, this WAS a hypothetical question. Dare I ask WHY you asked this question?
Response #6
By: rorschach
Date: 11/1/01 6:14:23 AM
Yes and no. no actual lives are at stake, just alot of money (potentially millions). not talking about any one problem, there are so many.... part of the problem is that the engineer in question is one of the former owners that is still hanging around waiting for early retirement age.... (I.E. taking up space/air...) our customers have pretty much decided we couldn't make gravity work reliably... and the above has alot to do with it. I've been the one to come behind him and clean up the mess a few too many times.... and I'm starting to get a little tired of doing engineering and getting paid to do drafting.... If only I could afford to walk away from work for about three years and go back and get the BS (degree that is... I already have enough of the other kind...)and on top of that we have a complete incompetent "running" procurement and refusing to order parts until every single assembly procedure and BOM is completly done and dusted. when you design something you generally start with the peice parts first and the assembly/BOM is usually the very last (or next to last) drawing done. (BOM stands for BIll Of Material for those not in the know... it is the list of parts and quantities of same required to build up an assembly). so if the job is hot/late procurement blames engineering when in reality the parts could have been on order for weeks, they just refuse to do so.
Response #7
By: WitchHazel
Date: 11/1/01 8:29:07 AM
Are you SURE you don't work for Boeing?