For our blog post this week, please read these articles about the recent chemical spills in West Virginia: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/18/west-virginia-water-smell_n_4623369.html
Engineers are often called on to design treatment systems, containment structures, and spill cleanup and site remediation. Many times, these systems are mandated by regulations, but more often than not engineers have to use their best professional judgement to protect public safety in the face of incomplete information. Post your thought and reflections on this issue by Monday, Feb 17 at 8:00AM.
This is a really complicated issue, especially when it comes down to safety vs. budget. I feel that it is very easy to follow regulations, but when it comes to something that isn't regulated, even if you feel it should be, thats where things get tricky. If you feel that certain pre-cautions are needed for a job even though they are not regulated it can hard to convince your company, and the company who contracted you to spend more money on something that isn't required by regulations. And if your not able to convince your company, or the company who contracted you about the necessity of the non-regulated safety pre-cautions it will most likely be the first thing they will cut to make the budget or to save money.
ReplyDeleteI feel that if your able to give example or explain what could happen if these non-regulated safety pre-cautions are not followed, as well as the possible legal fees/issues, your chances of adding these features to the project can be much higher. You really have to look at the risk vs. reward and if you feel that the risk is higher than the reward then you need to change your plans to make your project safer even if it means losing a bid.
My thoughts on this issue is that will it effect homes near by? With this issue, having a way to clean it up effectively could be costly. Even though we are so advanced in technology and studies, accidents like this can still be a tragic disaster to the eco system. This kind of topics is what interested me into the environmental engineering and finding ways to help or fix problems caused to the enviorment.
ReplyDeleteI feel like engineers have it tough when it comes calculating oil spilling and things like that. Finding variables and applying it to a solution make engineers reliable.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised when reading the article that the residents were told they could drink the water, yet they could still smell the chemicals in the air. It doesn't seem to be safe, yet tests prove that the water was non toxic. How or what can they fix the smell? Do they have to wait it out?