Social responsibility of Engineering profession is commitment to place public safety and interest ahead of all considerations. It means that engineer takes into account and show due regard for the consequences of their conduct for wellbeing of others as well as the impact of their work on society.

The social responsibilities of engineers include human safety and environmental protection in engineering designs. But it may extend further to include pro bono work and considerations of social justice issues. Research has found that perceptions of the professional social responsibilities of engineers vary across different countries/cultures, engineering disciplines (e.g., mechanical versus environmental engineers) and by gender. Ref: https://ideas.repec.org/h/ito/pchaps/142908.html

Following are some of the guiding principles to understand the social responsibility of engineering (Ref: https://education.siliconindia.com/medical/viewpoint/last-word/educating-the-socially-responsible-engineer-nwid-19831.html):

• [ ] Uphold the Dignity of Man: The dignity of man is a fundamental value of our society that never should be violated by engineering design. When design or operation of a product fails to recognise and prioritise the importance of individuality, privacy, diversity, and aesthetics, engineering fails to uphold the dignity of man, and thus doesn’t fulfil its purpose in society.
• [ ] Avoid Uncontrolled Side Effects & By-products: The challenge to engineering is how to meet its social purpose, while controlling the side effects and by-products of a design or invention. This requires a preliminary examination to obtain insight into how to solve a problem, while achieving a defined social purpose. This problem gets complicated because of the multitude of pressures leading to the development of a design or a technology. These could be political, economic, or intrinsically technological. These pressures can lead to unwise outcomes that are beyond the potential of engineering to solve.
• [ ] Be Closely Involved in Formulating the Why of Technology: Currently, engineering is poorly equipped in our country. There is still a separation between those who have developed the philosophy of technology and those who teach the subject in schools. This separation between the subject and the philosophy has repercussions on our entire society.

What does “having”social responsibilities mean?

• [ ] Commitment to place the public safety and interest ahead of all other considerations and obligations;
• [ ] Take into account and show due regard for the consequences of their conduct for the well-being of others as well as for the impact of their work on society and the citizenry.
• [ ] Make determined efforts to discover all of the relevant facts concerning the design, development, and deployment and of all possible outcomes of the choices available that may positively and negatively affect/impact society and the citizenry.
• [ ] Ref: http://member.neanepal.org.np/uploads/downloads/file_zYVnMDn80HMIN2KNdhDl.pdf