PROFESSIONAL ETHICS AND PRACTICES - COLUMN 161
work alone.” Early in my career, I spent many days working alone in the Colorado mountains conducting EM and magnetic surveys. I never had any accidents but if I had, things could have gotten serious quickly. My “lifeline” was an end-of-day phone call to my boss that if not made, could trigger a call to a county sheriff’s office.7 Sending two people into the field together increases the cost in terms of billable hours and expenses. But safety should demand this as a standard prac- tice.
I would appreciate receiving anec- dotes relating to this topic that can help sensitize all of us to the present and persistent problems of harassment, discrimination, bias, or other unwanted behaviors. Further discussion of this issue can be found at
https://eos.org/ opinions/steps-to-building-a-no-toler- ance-culture-for-sexual-harassment.
GSA’s Events Code of Conduct
The Geological Society of America adopted a detailed Events Code of Conduct in September 2016. This code can be downloaded from http://www.
geosociety.org/gsa/events/conduct.aspx. The code is in addition to the provisions of the GSA Code of Conduct and applies to all registrants, guests, volunteers, exhibitors, GSA staff, service providers, and others in attendance at a GSA meet- ing or GSA-sponsored event. It therefore
covers a much wider group of people than the GSA Code of Conduct that applies only to GSA members. This Events Code of Conduct lists expected behaviors; a partial list of unacceptable behaviors that include harassment, discrimina- tion, intimidation, and disruption of an event; examples of unacceptable behav- iors; the consequences of unacceptable behavior; instructions on reporting unacceptable behavior; and procedures to be followed in an emergency situation.
AIPG’s meetings and events are much smaller than GSA’s but similar unaccept- able behaviors may well have occurred at past events and unfortunately may occur in the future. Should AIPG adopt a simi- lar or virtually identical events policy? The advantage of having such a policy is that it clearly states what is and is not acceptable behavior and what will be done about unacceptable behavior. This makes taking action, should it be neces- sary, much easier. I urge you to review the GSA Events Code of Conduct. Let me and the National Executive Committee know if you believe AIPG should have a similar policy.
First Aid Training: Part of Continuing Professional Development
The larger geoscience organizations’ rules on field trip safety, which stem from concern over potential liability should something go wrong, are increas-
ing. This was brought to my attention last spring by Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists President John Ladd’s article, “Keeping members ‘On the Rocks’” in the May 2016 issue of RMAG’s Outcrop. Ladd was discussing the problems of obtaining insurance, which RMAG had obtained through AAPG’s insurer. However, as Ladd noted, the “insurance company started getting nervous, and beginning this year they were requir- ing that each trip would need to have a trip leader who not only was an AAPG member but also had so many health and safety certifications that they might as well be an EMT. They even required certification in small marine craft safety! For a trip to South Park?” About a month before I was to lead a field trip for this fall’s GSA Annual Meeting in Denver, I learned that I needed an up-to-date Red Cross basic first aid certificate. I’ve taken many first aid courses over the years but it has been a while since I’d taken one. There are new things in the course: dealing with seizures, drug overdoses, diabetic commas, and the use of an AED along with refreshers on the usual things including CPR. The point being that keeping up to date with current first aid practices is, or should be, a part of basic safety, particularly field safety, programs.8 The time spent at such training should be counted as part of one’s Continuing Professional Development hours.
7. This was long before cell phones and most of the places I worked are probably still out of cell coverage.
8. The more senior members may remember the arm-lift-back-compression form of artificial respiration that preceded the Cardio- Pulmonary Respiration method used now.
Geologic Ethics & Professional Practices is now available on CD
This CD is a collection of articles, columns, letters to the editor, and other material addressing professional ethics and general issues of professional geologic practice that were printed in The Professional Geologist. It includes an electronic version of the now out-of-print Geologic Ethics and Professional Practices 1987-1997, AIPG Reprint Series #1. The intent of this CD is collection of this material in a single place so that the issues and questions raised by the material may be more conveniently studied. The intended ‘students’ of this CD include everyone interested in the topic, from the new student of geology to professors emeritus, working geologists, retired geolo- gists, and those interested in the geologic profession.
AIPG members will be able to update their copy of this CD by regularly downloading the pe&p
index.xls file from the
www.aipg.org under “Ethics” and by downloading the electronic version of The Professional Geologist from the members only area of the AIPG website. The cost of the CD is $25 for members, $35 for non-members, $15 for student members and $18 for non-member students, plus shipping and handling. To order go to
www.aipg.org.
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