For this weekend’s Ethics Alarms Ethics Quiz, something a little different, as we all play, “Name That Unethical Conduct!”
I’m going to show you a photo (it comes with thanks to Popehat, where Ken’s clever colleague Patrick posted it), and you list everything that is ethically wrong with the conduct captured by the photographer.
One key piece of information: though it is blacked out, the license plate for the vehicle shows that it belongs to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Here’s the photo:
Ready…
Set…
GO!
Ethics Alarms 
They have done nothing wrong and how DARE you question the conduct of those brave, brave employees of the state…
I am so ashamed…
Other than the obvious ones of them riding in the back of a truck, which if DOT has similar regs as DOD, then that’s a no no. Other than the dude on the right smoking in or on a govt vehicle, which again, if like DOD is a no no.
The man on the left has chosen to eat at Hardee’s, which isn’t an issue of itself, but perhaps he tossed his noticeably absent drink to the groin. But that’s just wild speculation.
I would love to toss these guys the benefit of the doubt and say they are just resting on their truck while it is parked on the side of the road next to their job site. However that would betray a certain unprofessionalism.
But anyway, their vehicle is moving, either in the process of accelerating or decelerating, as betrayed by the chain on the ball hitch, which has curved in a classic caternary arch. This arch is achieved when a suspended chain reacts to a force in any direction.
Which leads me to my final observation: if the truck is moving, then the driver taking the picture is probably moving as well. I’d say, while attempting to operate a vehicle while operating a camera or cell phone is probably not in the interest of other people’s safety, so cameraman can join the unethical behavior.
Of course the individual taking the picture is mitigated if they were at a stop light, which it appears they were.
Excellent observation.
a lot of people would think the truck was parked and they were just sitting down during a break.
To correct my wildly speculative accusations of the man on the left. He still has his drink. Upon more detailed scanning in places the eye typically speeds past I found his drink. So that confirms he is no litter-bug…at least.
I get a kick out of the bumper sticker. Obviously, safety is NOT these guys’ goal, either the goofballs on the tool box or the driver. It’s as wrong as it would be to drive merrily over a dog if you were patting yourself on the back with a bumper sticker that said “I Brake for Animals.” That’s the awful thing going on here. An organization concludes it’s doing all it can to promote safety by hiring a company to give them bumper stickers and take 1 800 phone calls (and then most likely throw the messages in a wastebasket). Why doesn’t this government agency just make a serious effort to tell its employees that riding in the back of a pickup is illegal and unsafe and punish them for doing so?
Can tell by the comments who doesnt work outdoors nor owns a pickup truck..LOL.
Nothing wrong with riding in a pickup truck bed. DOT allows it for a variety of workers, and I’m sure there is a CFR that cover these workers. have to know what state this pic was taken to know for sure.
Guess what is most pathetic is the camerman and the trolling website that picked this up and makes insulting comments on these guys who actually do more than play with their keyboard or video games all day.
I worked with electricians, boilermakers, ironworkers, pipefitters, millrights and laborers my entire career… Guess what… They work for a living and earn their measly pay.. Can you all say the same?
There is something wrong and unethical here. Just because the DOT allows it, doesn’t make it ethical. If there is nothing wrong with riding in a truck bed, why could I get arrested for not having my child in an age and size-appropriate child seat? Why could I be arrested in whatever state they are in for not having my seatbelt on despite the fact that I would be in a much safer environment that these men?
It isn’t necessarily these men who are being unethical. It is their employer for allowing them to ride on top of the toolbox in an open truck bed while citizens would be ticketed or arrested for less. If they are riding here because there isn’t enough room in the cab for all the workers (very likely), then the employer is very definitely being unethical. In my (very very red) state, you can get ticketed for animal cruelty for letting your dog do that. For the same government that publishes volumes of extremely specific workplace safety rules for private companies to not take care of their own worker’s safety is supremely unethical.
“Can tell by the comments who doesnt work outdoors nor owns a pickup truck..LOL.” -JJ
I work outdoors and I work with a pick up truck. That exposes why ad hominem arguments are fallacious and also debunks your discourse in general.
But why stop at generalities? Let’s dissect your commentary in detail as well.
“Nothing wrong with riding in a pickup truck bed. DOT allows it for a variety of workers, and I’m sure there is a CFR that cover these workers. have to know what state this pic was taken to know for sure.” -JJ
Let’s see, 30 states have laws addressing the hazards of riding in the cargo area of pickup trucks. The government, via the sticker, claims it is out to enhance safety, requires passengers to wear seat belts, then you’ll assert that the tool box of the truck (lacking seatbelts) qualifies as a safe ride. Hm. Odd.
Additionally, you assert they are in the pickup truck bed. Only a pharisaic reading of that makes it so. They are not IN the bed.
“I worked with electricians, boilermakers, ironworkers, pipefitters, millrights and laborers my entire career” -JJ
Irrelevant to the discussion.
But if you wanna argue it: I’ve worked with landscapers, raw recruits and seasoned veterans, arborists, businessmen, ditch diggers, plumbers, masons, concrete specialists, architects, chemical applicators, general contractors, Sergeants-Major, GS-14s, professors, programmers, licensed irrigators, farmers, accountants, Major Generals, ethicists, horticulturalists, brewers, Southwest Airlines ticket sellers, basketball players, teachers, Certified Public Accountants, financiers, members of the Nepalese military, foremen, carpenters, urban planners, nurses, principals, mayors, members of the British military, oilmen, bankers, geologists, civil engineers, vintners, hunters, car salesmen, file storage specialists, warehouse managers, hazardous material handlers, forklift operators, and other laborers my entire career (and it hasn’t been that long).
Big deal. It doesn’t make me more or less able to make judgment calls on a government message claiming to “Be Safe” while not being safe.
“… Guess what… They work for a living and earn their measly pay.. Can you all say the same?”-JJ
Another ad hominem based on information you only speculate. Amazingly, speaking for myself, I do actually work even though I think those two workers and the driver are allowing obviously unsafe practices. Which, according to your logic, must be impossible to simultaneously be a hard worker and hold that belief.
Your entire discourse is a compendium of fallacy and illogical thought.
I have owned a pickup truck, but I also have taken and taught physics classes.
Which of those better equips you for making a judgment call on that photo?
I understand the temptation to ride in the bed, and would and have ridden in pickup truck beds under low speed conditions off-road (i.e. across a field at 5 mph). However, I know what the forces would be in a collision at even low road-going speeds and would never ride in the bed on a road. Have you seen the way people drive these days? F=ma. KE=0.5mvv.
Precisely. I wasn’t questioning your credentials, merely continuing to point out JJ’s irrelevant comment.
Excellent.
The list of violations is long.
1. No hard hats.
2. No safety glasses on both workers.
3. No visible ear protection in place.
4. Torn and raged clothing.
5. Smoking in a goverment truck.
6.The trucks saftey lights on the roof are not flashing.
7. Riding in the back of a truck.
You win this one, Bill. Great work!
The rule I tell my guys to remember is :
If you get hurt will workers comp cover your injury? If answer is no then you shouldn’t do it.