Social Media 1

[drawoh]

I continue to be involved in my local chapter of a technology association in Ontario, Canada. The association has expressed concern about its members posting on social media. I am trying to wrap my head around the issue. I may have to explain this to members.

Basically, I should be very careful about posting things to Facebook (or LinkedIn) along the lines of "I, Drawoh, CET (Certified Engineering Technologist) speak thus...", followed by pontifications on subjects I may or may not be qualified to discuss. I am fascinated with ancient history. My kitty is cuter than yours. This may be little more than being careful where I post my credentials. There is no need for my CET on Facebook.

There could be some history here, although I am not aware of anybody displaying credentials while making stupid posts.

Any thoughts on this?

 

[drawoh]

Sparweb,

Oglethorpe's authority comes from you assigning it to him.

I agree that QA procedures must be reviewed and updated periodically. The fact remains that you claim to have QA. You promise to follow QA procedures, and then you follow them. As your insurer or customer, I am an outsider, and I don't know Oglethorpe.

"I am right. Shut the f*ck up" communications happen when your organization is less than professional. This probably is not your fault, but you need to communicate that someone is making a bad technical decision. I have been there. Credentials help put the point across.

 

[CWB1]

Your other strategy is to assign the task to a qualified person (QP).

If that is the totality of your engineering QC process then you'd be guilty of gross negligence in most countries, as well as violating the ethical standards of engineering societies. Insurance policies generally dont cover errors and omissions caused by negligence, nor do customers knowingly accept it.

The basic premise of quality control is that all humans make mistakes so everyone's work must be reasonably inspected. Regardless of qualification or experience, the requirement for engineers is fourfold - 1. work within your experience, 2. identify/document all possible risks via FMEAs, 3. minimize every risk with high severity or frequency via testing/alternatives/redundancy/etc and 4. conduct independent design reviews to ensure you didnt miss anything. That same basic QC methodology (identify risks, minimize risks, independent review) is required of every profession. The argument for licensing/certs is typically that they somehow establish the experience in #1 but in reality are an independent variable.