Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You report Adam to the supervisor.
You think to yourself, "If I do the tests myself, it will save me getting in a big hassle with Adam and maybe even getting in trouble with the supervisor. But on the other hand, if I say nothing, there could be an accident someday when I am not around and people could get hurt. I would feel terrible if that happened, knowing that I did nothing to prevent it."
The supervisor seems surprised, but she doesn't question your truthfulness. She asks you who did the checks today. You reply, "Adam."
She says, "I will go and do the inspection myself. If Adam has fudged anything today, I will see it myself."
After making the inspection, the supervisor notes that Adam has indeed fudged the tests. Although no one ever tells you what happened between Adam and the supervisor, you assume that he was disciplined. The supervisor begins coming around to do frequent and unexpected spot checks.
Adam is quite rude and unpleasant to you as you expected, but you are pleased that the supervisor believed you and that safety procedures are being followed.
"You have to be very careful about safety issues," says Barbara Zimmerman. She is a journeyman pipe and steamfitter.
"There was one occasion when I had to report someone who was fudging reports and signing his name saying he had done inspections that he had not done."