DP6

DecisionPoint
http://proethica.org/ontology/cases#DecisionPoint

DP6

Upon discovering potential safety code violations during the peer review, should Engineer A proceed directly to notifying Engineer B under the standard sequential escalation model without a formal documented risk assessment, conduct and document a severity-and-imminence assessment first to determine which escalation pathway applies, or apply a uniform immediate-reporting standard to all discovered violations regardless of assessed severity?

Engineer A Severity and Imminence Assessment Obligation: Whether Engineer A must conduct and document a formal severity-and-imminence assessment of the discovered safety risk at the moment of discovery, and how that assessment determines which escalation pathway — sequential collegial notification or immediate regulatory reporting — is ethically required.

Before taking any escalation action, conduct and document a formal severity-and-imminence assessment identifying the specific code discrepancies, the design elements involved, the applicable safety code provisions, and the potential harm pathway — then select the escalation pathway (sequential collegial notification or immediate regulatory reporting) calibrated to the assessed level of risk.

Proceed directly to notifying Engineer B under the standard sequential escalation model without conducting a separate documented risk assessment, on the grounds that the 'may be in violation' standard uniformly triggers the collegial-first pathway and that a formal assessment introduces delay that is itself potentially harmful when a violation has already been identified.

Report all discovered potential safety code violations directly to proper authorities without a severity-and-imminence assessment, on the grounds that any violation of state and local safety codes constitutes a sufficient public safety risk to trigger the paramount reporting duty, and that calibrating the response to assessed severity introduces subjective judgment that could be used to rationalize inaction.

Engineer A Peer Review Safety Violation Discovering Engineer