Public Welfare Paramount Invoked in BER 92-6 Hazardous Waste Communication
P · Principle
Individual
http://proethica.org/ontology/case/137#Public_Welfare_Paramount_Invoked_in_BER_92-6_Hazardous_Waste_Communication
Properties
Instance of
Applied to
BER Case No. 92-6 hazardous drum communication decision
Balancing with
Client Loyalty
Confidentiality
Concrete expression
Engineer B's obligation to hold paramount the public health and welfare required more than oblique notification to the client about drums containing 'questionable material' — it required clear communication of the likely hazardous nature and the client's resulting legal obligations
Confidence
0.95
Importance
high
Interpretation
The paramount public safety obligation overlaps with but overrides confidentiality concerns when the engineer's actions could cause serious environmental danger to workers and the public
Invoked by
Engineer B Hazardous Material Omitting Environmental Consulting Engineer
Tension resolution
Board held that public welfare paramount obligation required clear hazard characterization and legal obligation notification, not oblique suggestion
Source Evidence
Source text
the extent to which an engineer has an obligation to hold paramount the public health and welfare in the performance of professional duties (See NSPE Code Section I.1.) overlaps the duty of engineers not to disclose confidential information concerning the business affairs, etc. of clients (See NSPE Code Section III.4.).
Text references
Engineer B consciously and affirmatively took actions that could cause serious environmental danger to workers and to the public
the extent to which an engineer has an obligation to hold paramount the public health and welfare in the performance of professional duties (See NSPE Code Section I.1.) overlaps the duty of engineers not to disclose confidential information concerning the business affairs, etc. of clients
TTL
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case137:Public_Welfare_Paramount_Invoked_in_BER_92-6_Hazardous_Waste_Communication a proeth:PublicWelfareParamount,
owl:NamedIndividual ;
rdfs:label "Public Welfare Paramount Invoked in BER 92-6 Hazardous Waste Communication" ;
proeth:appliedto "BER Case No. 92-6 hazardous drum communication decision" ;
proeth:balancingwith "Client Loyalty",
"Confidentiality" ;
proeth:conceptCategory "Principle" ;
proeth:concreteexpression "Engineer B's obligation to hold paramount the public health and welfare required more than oblique notification to the client about drums containing 'questionable material' — it required clear communication of the likely hazardous nature and the client's resulting legal obligations" ;
proeth:confidence "0.95" ;
proeth:discoveredincase "137" ;
proeth:discoveredinpass "2" ;
proeth:discoveredinsection "discussion" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredat "2026-03-01T05:31:01.524283+00:00" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredincase "137" ;
proeth:generatedattime "2026-03-01T05:31:01.524283+00:00" ;
proeth:importance "high" ;
proeth:interpretation "The paramount public safety obligation overlaps with but overrides confidentiality concerns when the engineer's actions could cause serious environmental danger to workers and the public" ;
proeth:invokedby "Engineer B Hazardous Material Omitting Environmental Consulting Engineer" ;
proeth:principleclass "Public Welfare Paramount" ;
proeth:sourcetext "the extent to which an engineer has an obligation to hold paramount the public health and welfare in the performance of professional duties (See NSPE Code Section I.1.) overlaps the duty of engineers not to disclose confidential information concerning the business affairs, etc. of clients (See NSPE Code Section III.4.)." ;
proeth:tensionresolution "Board held that public welfare paramount obligation required clear hazard characterization and legal obligation notification, not oblique suggestion" ;
proeth:textreferences "Engineer B consciously and affirmatively took actions that could cause serious environmental danger to workers and to the public",
"the extent to which an engineer has an obligation to hold paramount the public health and welfare in the performance of professional duties (See NSPE Code Section I.1.) overlaps the duty of engineers not to disclose confidential information concerning the business affairs, etc. of clients" ;
proeth:wasattributedto "Case 137 Extraction" ;
prov:generatedAtTime "2026-03-01T05:45:21.968209"^^xsd:dateTime ;
prov:wasGeneratedBy "ProEthica Case 137 Extraction" .
Metadata
Extraction details
Discovered in case
137
Discovered in pass
2
Discovered in section
discussion
First discovered
2026-03-01T05:31:01.524283+00:00
First case
137
Generated
2026-03-01T05:31:01.524283+00:00
Attributed to
Case 137 Extraction
Generated
2026-03-01T05:45:21.968209
Generated by
ProEthica Case 137 Extraction