I and II we discussed the basis for personal liability of engineers. It was pointed out that there are at least three ways that legal liability can arise for engineers. Negligence is conduct which falls below the standard established by law for the protection of others from unreasonable risk of harm.
Negligent conduct can be either an act or an omission to act.
The unreasonableness of a risk of harm is determined by weighing the danger and the utility of the act in question. The utility of the act is determined by considering the social value of the conduct, the probability that this societal interest will be advanced by the conduct, and the extent that the interest could have been advanced by less dangerous conduct. It is more important that engineers note carefully the last requirement. For biomedical engineers, the utility of a medical device lies in its benefit to patients. The potential for harm is common to all technology, but it is particularly large in the case of devices used to treat the ill.