Safety and Ethics
In the past, accidents in the construction industry were accepted as part of the trade. If you worked in excavation or on an elevated structure you knew there was a chance that you could be injured or even die. As technology progressed so did safety equipment and safety procedures. Finely we are at a point where the majority of accidents that happen are completely preventable. Why then are there so many accidents every year where 1000's of work hours are lost and millions if not billions of dollars are paid out in lawsuits and insurance premiums? I believe that answer lies within the realm of ethics. In this essay I will use a detailed true story where a mans personal ethics prevented a huge catastrophe and then I will examine ethics in regards to safety in corporate America. In the 1930's daring and creative architects and engineers had begun to depart from what had been accepted as the traditional method of designing and constructing skyscrapers. Innovations in skyscraper design such as lighter materials, increased window area, and cantilevered supports, resulted in taller, lighter, and slimmer buildings. William LeMessurier was one of the country's most distinguished structural engineers when
In a slowly downward sliding society corporate ethics have never been more questionable. This experience would be critical in designing the Citibank building because this building was to be designed on top of a church. To counter act the swaying a tuned-mass damper was installed at the top of the building. It is not enough to look to government sponsored safety regulatory agency for your safety programs. City officials would have to be involved in creating an evacuation plan in case the storm hit before the building could be fixed and the cost for the retrofit would have to be calculated. LeMessurier had a great deal of experience in designing unique and difficult buildings. After LeMessurier went public with his information many steps had to be taken. Construction on this new building was finished in 1977. The finished tower was unusually light for its size so it had a tendency to sway in the wind. In many cases unethical behavior may lead to immediate cost reduction or immediate profit but unethical behavior will eventually lead to problems later on down the road whose costs far exceed the initial savings. The retrofit took approximately 1 month to strengthen the supports and after they were through it was calculated that even a 700-year storm would not be able to knock the building down. He found that quartering winds would cause stresses to increase by 40 percent. LeMessurier would have been the most hated man in America. The church was located at the corner of the building so this meant that these nine-story supports would be located in the center of the building perimeter and not on the corners. He had no idea how his news would be taken by Citibank leadership, city officials, or the general public.
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Acceptance Essays
