CODE OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT

Introduction

1. Under the Institution's By-Laws:

" Every member of the Institution shall so order his/her conduct as to uphold the dignity and reputation of the Institution and shall observe the provisions of the Charter and the By-Laws."

2. The Institution demands of its Corporate Members additional obligations:

"Every Corporate Member shall at all times so order his/her conduct as to uphold the dignity and reputation of his/her profession: and to safeguard the public interest in matters of safety and health and otherwise".

and

"He/she shall exercise his/her professional skill and judgement to the best of his/her ability and discharge his/her professional responsibility with integrity."

3. The Council considers it to be the professional and moral duty of every member to understand and accept these obligations and the specific interpretation of them as defined in the Code of Professional Conduct. A member should apply the Code diligently and not enter into any contract or arrangement of any nature whatsoever with any other person, the performance of which will or may involve a breach of this Code.

Safety and Health.

4. Every member shall, at all times and in all respects, take all reasonable care to prevent danger of death, injury or ill-health to any person or of damage to property, whilst carrying out his/her work or as a consequence of it.

Protection of the Environment.

5. Every member shall, at all times and in all respects, take all reasonable care to prevent adverse impact on the working environment of himself/herself and others, and on the wider environment as a consequence of his/her work.

Competence to Practise.

6. Every member shall take all reasonable steps to maintain and develop his/her professional competence in relation to new developments relevant to his/her field of professional activity. To this end, every member should be familiar with relevant codes of practice and guidelines which may be issued or endorsed by the Institution, especially those concerned with safety and health and protection of the environment. Every member should also seek to participate in the activities of the Institution appropriately to his/her circumstances.

7. Every member should maintain a record of his/her Continuing Professional Development activities and keep it available for inspection by the Institution on request.

8. Every member shall only undertake work which he/she has sufficient competence, time and authority to perform.

9. A member aware of relevant limitations in, or in any respect unsure of, his/her competence to undertake professional work shall disclose that fact to the customer of the work. The member should only proceed when the customer confirms his/her agreement to proceeding on that basis and when the member is then satisfied as in para 8.

Supervisory Responsibilities

10. Every member shall exercise proper supervision of all work done under his/her authority and accept professional responsibility for it.

11. Every member shall treat those under his/her supervision and all other people with respect, fairness, honesty and courtesy.

12. Every member shall help and encourage those under his/her supervision to maintain and develop their professional competence through appropriate education, training and experience and participation in appropriate learned society activities.

Conflicts of Interest

13. Every member shall take all reasonable care when accepting and undertaking a professional assignment to avoid any real, or likely to be perceived, conflict of interest between the member or his/her associates and the customer.

14. Should a member become aware of a possible conflict of interest, he/she shall immediately disclose the issue to the customer in writing (or other recordable form) and only continue working when the customer so requests.

Confidentiality

15. A member shall not disclose information concerning the business of his/her employer, a past employer or a customer which is not already in the public domain, unless clearly authorised to do so or it is clearly in the public interest under para 25 having exhausted all other reasonable avenues.

16. A member shall not improperly use confidential information either for his/her own benefit or for the benefit of a third party.

Honesty and Integrity

17. Every member shall at all times conduct himself/herself with honesty, impartiality and integrity.

18. A member shall not offer, give or receive any inducement (financial or otherwise) made to improperly influence the award or performance of a professional assignment.

19. A member shall not receive remuneration from a second source for work already undertaken for his/her employer or another unless this is agreed by the parties concerned.

20. In referring in advertisements or papers to his/her own work or competence, a member shall be factual and avoid misleading statements.

21. A member shall not maliciously or recklessly injure another's professional reputation, prospects or business.

22. A member who is convicted of any criminal offence related to their professional activities shall immediately notify the Institution.

Risk Assessment

23. In the course of his/her professional work, every member shall carefully assess possible hazards, their mitigation and counter-measures in order to minimise risk, particularly to the public and the environment.

24. Every member undertaking a professional assignment should assess his/her potential liability for the accuracy and consequences of the work and, where appropriate, hold professional indemnity insurance.

Upholding the Code of Professional Conduct

25. Should a member's professional advice be rejected by his/her employer or customer, the member should take all reasonable steps to ensure that the person who overrules or disregards such advice is made fully aware of the possible consequences. Where the advice concerns the safety or health of people or of the environment, the member should make his/her concerns clear in writing and request written acknowledgement. He/she should also consider taking further action, for example through his/her employer, relevant national regulators or by seeking the advice of the Institution, in accordance with the spirit of paras 4 and 5.

26. A member who becomes aware of any significant violation of this Code of Professional Conduct by another member shall immediately inform that member. If a satisfactory response is not obtained, he/she should notify the Institution with a copy to the member concerned.

July 2005

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