The term “environmental conditions” refers to a group of factors that affect the working environment. This can have an impact on an employee’s ability to perform job duties and tasks. Every job contains perceived hazards, which frequently result in disease, injury, and, in some circumstances, death. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) develops necessary standards for commercial organisations to adopt and communicate to employees in hazardous situations that could result in physical or psychological injury.
Environmental Conditions
Environmental Conditions are defined as the presence of any Hazardous Material in the environment, such as soil, groundwater, surface water, or ambient air, at a level that exceeds any applicable standard under any Environmental Law or necessitates remediation or investigation (including investigation, health, study or risk assessment, monitoring, treatment, removal, or transport) under any applicable Environmental Law.
The majority of organisms can only live on land or in water. The ability of an organism to survive local conditions in its environment limits its dispersal even further. One characteristic, like temperature tolerance, may be essential in defining distribution limitations, but more often than not, a combination of variables, like water requirements and temperature tolerance, is required. Organisms can respond physiologically and behaviourally to extreme environmental factors. The physiological response aids the organism in maintaining a steady internal environment (homeostasis), whereas the behavioural response allows it to evade the environmental challenge if homeostasis is not possible to maintain.
Impacts of Environmental Conditions
Biological agents were most important element in human health for most of the human history. Bacteria, protozoa, viruses, and internal parasites were among the pathogenic (disease-causing) species. In most regions of the world today, cardiovascular illnesses, accident and cancers are the top causes of death. Infectious diseases, however, continue to kill over 22 million people per year, largely in developing nations. Tuberculosis, pneumonia, malaria, influenza, dysentery, whooping cough, and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome are among these disorders (AIDS). The majority of those who are impacted are children. Malnutrition, contaminated water, unsanitary environments, and a lack of medical attention all contribute to these deaths.
Factors such as drug-resistant bacteria, insecticide-resistant carriers, and overpopulation exacerbate the issues of infectious diseases. Antibiotic resistance has developed among infections as a result of overuse. In most regions of the world, tuberculosis (TB) was practically eradicated, but drug-resistant forms have suddenly reversed that trend. Malaria is another example. In tropical areas, the insecticide DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) was frequently employed to suppress malaria-carrying mosquito populations. However, mosquitoes established a natural resistance to DDT after a long period of time, and the disease was once again extensively distributed. Anti-malarial drugs were also over-prescribed, allowing the malaria parasite to develop resistance to them.
Environmental Conditions Examples
- Hazardous compounds can be found in the water, air, soil, and food.
- Technological and natural disasters are two types of disasters.
- Climate change is a reality.
- Hazards in the workplace.
Humidity
The majority of terrestrial species must keep their water content under strict restrictions. Water is typically lost to air via transpiration or evaporation in plants. Because the rate of water loss is dictated by gradient across the diffusion barrier, like the surface of a skin or leaf, rate of water loss will be affected by the relative humidity of the air. The proportion of saturation of air relative to the total saturation achievable at a given temperature is referred to as relative humidity. The relative humidity of air reaches 100 percent when it is completely saturated. Since the water vapour capacity of warm air is greater, totally saturated cool air includes less water vapour than the completely saturated warm air.
Temperature
Because temperature influences the physical state of water, it has the greatest impact on the dispersal of organisms. Most creatures cannot survive for long periods of time in temperatures that are below 0 °C and above 45 °C. Certain species have evolved to survive outside of this range. Thermophilic bacteria are being discovered in hot springs where temperatures near boiling point, and certain arctic mosses and lichens can withstand temperatures of 70 °C but these are the outliers.
Salinity
The amount of dissolved salt present in water is referred to as salinity. In seawater, chloride and sodium are the most abundant ions, with magnesium, calcium, and sulphate ions also present in significant amounts. The salinity of naturally occurring waters ranges from nearly salt-free water in snowmelt to saturated solutions in the salt lakes like the Dead Sea. The salinity of the oceans is constant, but at the coast, in which seawater is diluted by freshwater from river discharge or runoff, the salinity is more variable. Freshwater and Marine organisms are separated by this brackish water.
Transpiration
The process of water absorption and transpiration is cyclic. Water is absorbed by roots from the soil and transported to plant components for photosynthesis. The transpiration pull is responsible for the upward water movement against gravity. The combination of two types of forces causes this upward pull: cohesive and sticky forces. Excess water received by roots but not utilised is lost to atmosphere in the form of water vapours during gaseous exchange or from stems, barks, or other components through pores.
Conclusion
The term “environmental circumstances” refers to a set of factors that have an impact on the workplace. This may affect an employee’s capacity to carry out job responsibilities and tasks. Every work has perceived risks, which regularly lead to disease, injury, and, in some cases, death.
Environmental Conditions Examples involves
- Technological and natural disasters are the two types of disasters.
- Climate change is a reality.
- Hazards in the workplace.