Real-Life Decision Making
You are working as an oil pipeline operator. It has been a very hectic night. You look at the tank log and you see that you are to put gas in tank 210. You open the value and begin to move the gasoline.
Fifteen minutes later, you receive a high-level alarm, meaning that the tank has reached a certain pre-set level.
"That's odd," you think. "It is much too soon for this tank to be full."
You go back to your tank log and you see that you have made a mistake. This gasoline was supposed to go to another tank.
Darn! Now you are in trouble. There will be a reprimand on your employee file. Even worse, there will be a big investigation. There will be lots of questions, lots of paperwork, lots of red tape.
You will be asked exactly what you were doing when the accident happened, how many barrels you put in the wrong tank, who set up the schedule, whether the television was playing in the background, whether you had been talking on the telephone and so on.
On the other hand, you could cover it up and not report it. You could go out, transfer the extra barrels into 211 and keep your mouth shut. If you are caught, you will be fired, but there is a good chance that you will not be found out.
It's not so much that you mind getting the reprimand. But the hassle of the investigation is dreadful.
What do you do?