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It depends. I think it can be driven informally or formally. Do you think other public trust professions (doctors, lawyers, judges) are on equally weak foundations?

Informally, you have the onus to create a culture of accountability and each individual has the responsibility to uphold it. One way you do the opposite is for people to claim "engineers are almost never to blame". Maybe this is a third rail to bring up at this moment, but you can see how much culture matters when bad policing surfaces. Would you say "Beat cops can't be blamed, it's only the chief's fault"?

Formally, you can lean on licensure requirements. Requiring an official "approval" from a licensed engineer (and the accountability that goes with it) helps ensure the public trust oath isn't just a rubber stamp.




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